Noon
by Kee Blayd
Summary: Sequel to Kingdom Hearts: A New Light. Raynx has been defeated and things are calm for a while, and then everything falls apart. Will the heroes be able to save the realm of light from the darkness yet again? Rated T for violence and swearing.
1. Grehy Afternoon

Author's Note: Ah yes, the beginning of Noon. I have set up an updating schedule, which is mentioned in the bottom Author's Note. And so! With a great sigh, Kevin released chapter one, scared _shitless_ that it would just plain suck balls.

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure it's obvious that I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Odds are, anyone that posts here does not own it. I do however, own your souls. And I expect you to pay homage at least once a week, on Tuesdays.

* * *

_Kevin's Journal: Entry One_

_I can't believe it. It has been one month since Raynx died. I won't say it was any of us; we weakened him until he was desperate enough to open Kingdom Hearts, but we didn't kill him. If anything, he was just purified._

_It's funny, how hard it is to readjust to life at the islands. I still haven't gone to talk to any of my friends besides those that can sympathize with me (Sora, Riku, Kairi, Tom and Lochit). Surprisingly enough, there hasn't been even the slightest hint of a Heartless showing up here, it is pretty strange. This world is kind of the stronghold of the Keyblades right now, you'd think they would try to overwhelm us with sheer numbers and make their move on the rest of the universe. Maybe they're scared. Maybe we are seen as a valid threat that wasn't dealt with when it should have been. I honestly don't know._

_However, I do know that Ashlee is okay. She is living with Tahlia, her mother Petunia as well as Rose and Rould on their home world. I don't think I have heard a name for it yet, nor do I know anything about it, only that it seems like it has a lot of farmland. All that matters is that Ashlee and I are in touch and that everyone is alive and well. Except for Tahlia, who rolled her ankle in the fields._

_Xunahs has been very open with everyone here. He wants to try to build a new life. He is fifteen, and has a heart. I guess it only makes sense that he wants to have friends before we leave again in two weeks. This time, Sora, Riku and Kairi will be out too. We are all going to see King Mickey as a group in his castle before we leave for our next adventure. Apparently, our groups are getting mixed up a bit._

_Oh right! I also met Goofy and Donald, the two that joined Sora on his first two adventures. They are… Eccentric… Yeah, that's right. Eccentric. Very, very eccentric. I don't mind the goofiness of their antics, but sometimes, I can't help but shuffle away from them. They also know how to bring out the dork in Sora, which is always entertaining to watch. No, seriously. It is hilarious._

_Anyways, I am going to wrap up this entry for now and go for a walk. When classes end for everyone else, I am going to see Sora, Riku and Kairi and discuss things with them. Without further adieu, adieu._

_~Kevin the Sexy

* * *

_Chapter One: Grehy Afternoon

Kevin woke up; groaning as the sunbeams assaulted his tightly shut eyes. "Morning already? Damn… I wanted to continue beating on Venxik's head…" He rolled out of bed and quickly removed his pajamas. The first thing he dived for while in the buff was his mechanized wing pack; which one can never leave home without.

He fumbled through his closet until he found a plain white t-shirt and dark blue shorts. He slipped into his boxers and put on his choice of clothing for the day.

He walked out the door of his room and down the stairs to his kitchen, where Xunahs was sitting, wolfing down an egg sandwich. "Your mom wants us to get some groceries, there's a list and some munny." Xunahs said through the egg and bread. Kevin sighed and grabbed the paper. He was being kept on the islands for a rest. After two weeks, he and everyone else, including Sora, Riku and Kairi would be travelling the worlds in separate groups. Kevin was anxious to figure out how their groups looked.

Tom and Lochit were also living on the islands, in a house that Lochit's parents had rented. Actually, it was amazing how enjoyable Lochit's company was. She was a lot kinder than Xochitl had been. Kevin's mom was happy to take Xunahs in, saying that he needed somewhere to live and if it was royal decree that said he was her son, who was she to deny that?

"You look bright and cheery this morning." Xunahs said, after his sandwich was finished. Kevin sighed. "I am just anxious to start the journey. This is getting to be a real pain. I am going to finally go around and talk to people today. I am supposed to be dead; you saw the small memorial for Andrea and me at the school. For a lot of people, it's going to be like seeing a ghost."

Xunahs nodded. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. But who cares? You're back with your friends and family. Everyone that has come to terms with your return is happy that you're here and safe."

Kevin looked away. "You're right. But it killed me when I told Andrea's parents that she didn't make it. That some crazed _lunatic_ killed her when she tried to save me."

Xunahs patted his shoulder. "Don't take it so hard. You couldn't have prevented it any better than anyone else. Feel lucky he isn't running around now and killing people."

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Oh hey, weren't we supposed to meet Ashlee and her family after three?"

"Yep, do you remember what the place looks like?"

"Yeah. It's a farming village. I am bringing all of the guys over, Lochit, Sora, Riku and Kairi. Of course, I need to ask them, but I doubt they would say no. It will be weird, seeing Rould as a decent human being."

Xunahs laughed and grabbed his own munny he earned doing odd jobs. "Yeah, it is still hard seeing Lochit be a good person. Anyways, are we off?"

Kevin nodded. "We're off." They left through the front door and into the harsh sunlight that seemed to perpetually shine on the islands. Kevin and Xunahs walked down the house-lined street. "First, we are going to see Lochit and Tom, right?" Xunahs asked.

Kevin nodded. "Yep, first them and then we go do our errands."

They walked through the streets, waving at the odd passerby that noticed them. Kevin stopped to talk a few times with some people, like a hairdresser. She was happy to see him alive and well, as was everyone else he met. Except for a certain group of three.

"Grehy." Kevin growled as he and Xunahs approached three teenagers that tried to look intimidating. The middle one, the tall and muscular one was Grehy; he had squinty eyes and dark brown hair. His two buddies were scrawny twigs that tried their damndest to look intimidating, and failed miserably.

"Hmph." He stepped up to Kevin, glaring at him as if he were about the choke the life out of the Nobody. Kevin stepped back and placed his hand out so that it was level with his chest. He tilted his head and looked at it as if he was taking measurements. He put his hand back in his pocket and looked back at Grehy. "You grew!" He smiled and Grehy scowled.

"Who asked you, faggot?" Kevin's smile only grew wider. "Faggot, you say? I am sorry, but I don't burn well." Grehy returned Kevin's smile.

He placed a beefy hand on Kevin's shoulder, squeezing as hard as he could. He looked at Kevin, hoping to see him cry out in pain, as he would have done almost ten months ago. Kevin didn't even flinch. "Listen, Grehy, is there a point to this? I am trying to meet a couple of friends. I'm late enough as it is"

Grehy let go. His two followers stared at Kevin in shock the smaller of the two, with his black hat flipped backwards and excruciatingly baggy pants stepped forward. "Who the hell do you think you are? Move out of the way, niggz."

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "That was almost a racial slur there, broham. Mind if I call you that? I do, actually. It feels like I am treating you like an equal. I hate lying. Anyways, racial slur, yadda-yadda. Who the hell do you think you are; string beans?"

_You're having fun, aren't you?_ Xunahs asked.

_A blast. _Kevin sighed. "Listen, guys. How about you move to one side, and we move to the other. That way, neither of us is blocking the way for the other and we can be on our merry way."

Grehy moved closer so that his and Kevin's noses were inches apart. "No, you little fag, you are going to move out of my way and let us go by. Got it?"

Kevin pinched his own nose and pushed Grehy back. "You smell funny."

Grehy's face turned red and he grabbed Kevin by the shirt. Kevin noticed, with a degree of satisfaction that Grehy purple in the face with rage. He spun around and threw Kevin at the wall of a nearby building. Kevin flipped so that his feet touched the bricks and he jumped off. He landed on his feet and tugged at his shirt experimentally. He looked at Grehy sadly. "Dude, you stretched my shirt…"

Adam and Jake, Grehy's accomplices backed away. "Dude's not natural." Adam, the smaller one whispered to Jake. His tall, skinny friend nodded and they turned on their heels and ran.

Kevin folded his arms and looked at Grehy, grinning slightly. "So, Grehy, you have two options. One: you can run. Two: you can piss off and leave some dignity behind." Grehy's answer was a roar and a lunge at Kevin. Who simply sidestepped and kicked him in the side.

"Seriously Grehy, you are making an ass of yourself. Are you really so pissed off by the fact that you can't beat the guy that was voted doormat of the year in 2007? Face it, during my absence, I have grown a lot. I could kick your ass any time."

Grehy jumped back up and punched Kevin in the face with one of his beefy arms. "EAT DIRT, FAGGOT!" He roared. Kevin fell backwards and his head made contact with the cobblestone pavement with a _thunk_.

Kevin got up, holding his bleeding nose. _Well Xunahs, good news first: I now have no right to be cocky. Bad news: My nose be broken._

Xunahs grinned at Kevin. _Your own fault, Kevin._ Kevin sighed. _You're right._

Grehy advanced towards Kevin, holding a long knife in his hand. Kevin's eyes widened. And Grehy said, "I will KILL YOU!"

He lunged at Kevin, who spun to the right and grabbed Grehy by the fist. He shoved Grehy to the ground and pinned him. "What the _hell _is your problem? You are being irrational!"

Grehy began thrashing under Kevin, who was swearing profusely. The Nobody was flung off and Grehy ran at him again. Grehy caught Kevin by the arm and swiped the knife along his wrists. Kevin cried out and quickly covered his bleeding wrists.

Xunahs ran at Grehy, yelling something and smashed his broadsword into Grehy's head.

Grehy yelled out a loud swear as the butt end of the sword made contact. He fell forwards and a man in a white lab coat walked up. He checked Grehy's pulse and his pursed his lips. "That was a close one." He hefted the teen up with ease and looked down at Kevin.

Kevin looked back up to see cold, blue eyes. The man had medium-long grey hair. He looked like he was deep in thought and shrugged. "Maybe later." He muttered. He carried Grehy off and disappeared.

Xunahs healed Kevin's injuries and helped him up.

"Who was that?" Kevin asked.

"Search me."

Kevin and Xunahs turned to the source of the voice. It was Tom. Lochit stood next to him, holding a rapier made from ice in her gloved hands. "Why are you two here?" Kevin asked.

Tom sighed. "Xunahs let us know that you guys were facing some problems. That man that was just here has a fortified mind. I couldn't get past any of the safeguards."

"I coulda taken him." Xochitl said, making a few stabs at the air with her rapier.

"Why hasn't anyone responded to the fight? I mean really, you would have thought that someone would have gone 'Oh hey, there is that Grehy kid fighting someone that looks like Kevin! Maybe we should phone the cops! Zoinks, he pulled out a knife! Maybe we should _really_ call the cops!'"

Tom raised his eyebrow, smiling humorously. "'Zoinks'?" Kevin nodded. "Zoinks indeed."

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Xochitl asked.

"Come with me to the store. I don't know who that man was, or what Grehy has to do with him, but things might be a bit dangerous around here. Did you guys get a whiff of that?"

Tom nodded. "Free Magic."

Xunahs and Lochit looked confused. "What's that?" Lochit asked.

"Did you taste something coppery in the air that made you feel queasy?" Kevin asked.

They nodded and Tom frowned sourly. "That was the remnants of Free Magic. Something is wrong here. I think we should get the others."

Kevin shivered, remembering what happened last time he smelled the foul magic. "Yeah, we need to get to school, shopping takes too long. If we did face a zombie apocalypse, well… Yeah."

Xunahs raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Lochit smiled. "Zombies? I like the sound of that. I have been itching to beat on things for a long time."

Kevin sighed. "Are you serious? I don't want to have to deal with having someone I love get kidnapped again. Sure, in the end, it got her a Keyblade, but a friend of mine also died in the process of bringing her back. Not to mention all of the casualties."

He summoned Vortex. "Regardless, we need to get to that school, now." He sprinted down an alley and everyone followed close behind.

* * *

"Sora, are you _sure_ you don't want me to get someone from the office?" Riku asked, standing outside the toilet stall Sora was emptying the contents of his stomach in. Sora choked out a short "No" before vomiting again.

The door slammed open and Kevin, Tom and Xunahs ran in. Kevin heard Sora throw up and looked quizzically at Riku. "What's got him?"

Riku shrugged. "Beats me. He complained about tasting copper and ran for the toilets."

He cringed, hearing Lochit's obnoxiously loud singing from outside the boy's bathroom. "Does she have to be so… loud?" Riku asked.

Tom shrugged and Lochit yelled, "I am waiting for you asses to hurry up with your loving! I am a girl with my own needs, such as killing these Heartless that are surrounding me!"

"If there are Heartless, why the hell are you singing?" Riku shouted, summoning Way to the Dawn.

"I'm sorry if I wanted my own theme song! HEEYAH!"

Tom summoned a steel axe that had red markings on its blade. "Does it have to be Favourite Things?"

A Large Body blasted the door down. It jumped slightly and disappeared, Lochit was standing there. She spun around and sliced a Soldier in half. "WHEN THE DOG BARKS, WHEN THE BEE STINGS. WHEN I'M FEELING SAD!"

"Oh God! It be the cry of the banshee!" Kevin covered his ears.

Xunahs raised a hand sheepishly. "Uh, Lochit, I think it was 'bites', not 'barks'."

Lochit stopped her chorus and turned to face Xunahs. A wall of ice cut off the attacking Heartless. " Well excuse me, princess! I'm the one singing here, not you!"

Xunahs sighed. "Whatever." Lochit curtsied and exploded the wall of ice. The shards cut through the Heartless, destroying them all. A black hand shot out for her hand and she ducked under it and got out of the way just in time. She spun around and saw the Dead Hand standing just where she was. It let out a silent battle cry and made some sort of jerking lunge at her.

She stabbed it through the head and let the rapier explode. The ice chunks ripped it apart and three of the advancing Dead. Lochit summoned another rapier and ran at the closest one that was still able to move. She cut it down the middle and moved on to the next one. She finished and ran to the boy's washroom.

"Zombies. They smell bad."

Kevin ran to the sinks and turned both taps on them full blast. He went to one of the urinals and flushed it. Tom caught on right away and flushed another urinal, too.

The toilet Sora was throwing up in flushed as well and the Keybearer stepped out, with some orange gunk hanging from his chin. Xochitl gagged and handed him a paper towel. "O noble hero, take my silk handkerchief as a token of my gratitude."

Sora bowed handsomely. "Thank you, fair maiden. Your kindness is only matched by your beauty." Tom poked his head out of the stall and glared at Sora, who winced and stepped back. "Yep, sorry. Stepping down." He chuckled nervously.

Kairi ran in. A rotting hand sat limply on her shoulder. "There are so many of them. Heartless and zombies. Everyone got out okay, but we're stuck!"

"Thank you Kairi." Kevin said. He clogged the sinks, toilets and urinals with toilet paper. He looked outside and saw the art room across the hall. "Wait a sec, I have an idea." He darted across the hall and into the room. He came back out, holding several pieces of thick string.

"Tom, get a few rocks out of the walls." Tom did so and Kevin tied the string around the rocks. He hung them off of the toilet and urinal handles and turned to face the others. "This will probably flood the school and screw up a lot of the Dead that are running around. Luckily, we are on the top floor. I would suggest running around to other stalls, but I don't know how packed the halls are. For now, we need to get the hell out."

He opened a portal and walked through. Everyone else followed and they were in front of Kevin's house. "Sora, Riku, Kairi, go get dressed. Xunahs, Tom, Lochit, go get people down to the beach. I'm going to see if I can get a boat big enough to fit everyone on the islands. If I can't, we are going to have to relocate everyone."

They all nodded and went their separate ways.

Kevin ran down towards the beach. _I hope we won't be too late.

* * *

_Author's Note: And there we go! Chapter one of Noon. Just in case I didn't make it clear, there is a one-month skip between Noon and ANL. Oh yes. I don't plan on this zombie invasion being as apocalyptic as the Radiant Garden one. No srsly, we will have 100% of the population, minus Grehy in safety.

Oh yes, I plan on having a more solid updating schedule than 'whenever it's done'. I am currently like ten chapters into the story, and I plan on updating with a new chapter once a week. Maybe once every two weeks if I get a juicy cliffhanger (kidding). I am hoping this will make my fic a bit easier to follow. I had three massive chapters updated in less than a week, for some of my friends, that was hell. So no matter what, I am going to update my chapters once every week. And since I will work on the chapters ahead of time, it will be hard for writer's block to affect me long enough to fall behind or even for the chapters to catch up.

Anyways, do the usual of reading and reviewing!


	2. Halixat Returns

Chapter Two: Halixat Returns

Kevin ran along the wharf that was behind a row of rich looking houses. He heard the hollow thudding as his feet pounded along the aged wood and he ran into the large boathouse. He slammed the door shut and turned on the light. The room became illuminated and he almost gagged, seeing the mutilated Dead that lay on the ground. None of them were able to move anymore. _Someone else is here._

He summoned Vortex and walked slowly through the pile of destroyed Dead. He heard something that sounded like music in a part of the warehouse. Kevin caught a whiff of Free Magic and the lights fizzed out, the music stopped and Kevin felt a wave of panic come from the person that was holding the instrument.

"Who—Who's there?" Someone called nervously. "I'm armed and I'm not afraid to fight… Oh man, I am just not built for this."

Kevin was about to respond when the person let out a nervous chuckle and the music that was being played before filled the room. It sounded like an electric guitar. Water sprang up around him and he was thrown back by a pillar of water. "Get away!"

Kevin got out of the way of another pillar of water and cut through a barrage of bubbles of water that were launched at him. He focused on the quickly forming puddle of water and formed a tendril of water that started batting away the bubbles. Kevin ran straight for the source of the playing and was thrown back by a wall of water.

"God damn, this is infuriating!" He let electricity run along his arms and yelled, "You have ten seconds to stop this before I experiment on what happens when water and electricity meet!"

The barrage stopped and a teenager walked out from behind an upturned boat, holding a blue sitar in his hands. Kevin raised an eyebrow. "That was making the noise? What the hell! I don't think that's right…" The teen frowned. "Shut up. I am the musician, aren't I?"

Kevin returned the frown. "You and Lochit would be tighter than fat kids in spandex."

The smell of Free Magic faded and the lights flickered back to life. Vortex disappeared and the teen stepped into the light. "Sorry about that. It's kind of hard being calm when the Dead are running around." Kevin looked at the teen. He was wearing a light blue shirt and blue swimming shorts with a bubble pattern. He looked up to his hair. It _looked_ like it was a mullet, but it wasn't. Kevin remembered seeing it at the barber's once in a book, but he forgot what it was called.

Kevin stopped puzzling over the hair and returned his attention to the teen. He offered a hand. "Sorry about threatening to electrocute you. Getting attacked at random can be very annoying, even for a Nobody. My name's Kevin, by the way. I am guessing you aren't from around here, considering that I haven't seen you before, and you actually know what these things are called."

The teen accepted his hand with some hesitation. They shook hands. "Yeah, sorry about attacking you in the first place, Kevin. My name is Dyme, or Demyx. Former number IX of Organization XIII."

Kevin looked genuinely thrilled. "No way! More Organization members? That is too cool. First, I meet Roxas, and then Xigbar; I meet Axel and learn that my sister is Larxene! Next thing you know, I'm going to run into someone from that group that is actually an ass, like Saix or Xaldin."

Dyme paled. "Larxene… is your… sister…" His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he nearly fell over. Kevin sat him down and began to fan him with a broken plank of wood.

Dyme's eyes fluttered open and Kevin glared at him. "Are you awake now, or are you going to faint on me again?"

Dyme chuckled nervously. "Sorry. Larxene was pretty bad to us. Especially me."

Kevin sighed. "It's okay. I can't say that she was ever a bitch to me when she was a human, but I will do my best to sympathize, ignoring my handicaps. Do you think you can walk?" Dyme nodded and got up.

"So, do you have any idea when the Dead started popping up?" Kevin asked.

"No idea, they just swarmed the boathouse an hour ago. The owner left two hours before that, with his wonderfully large yacht and his family."

Kevin growled. "Well damn. So, I guess plan B is the only option." A loud, unearthly roar filled the room and Kevin swore. Dyme almost yelped, but covered his mouth. "A Mordicant…"

Kevin turned to Dyme. "Do you think you can handle a Mordicant? Or at least help me out?" Dyme nodded. "Yeah. I remember patrolling the Old Kingdom a few years ago with Xigbar. That Kerrigor guy was pretty rude, sending legions of the undead after us and whatnot."

Kevin grinned. "Okay, good. I don't know what's happening and how we have a necromancer running around, but whoever it is must be powerful, especially if Mordicants are also running around." He summoned Vortex and Dyme gasped.

"A Keyblade? No way…" Kevin grinned. "Vortex is the name of the Keyblade. I just came back from killing a bunch of Heartless, actually. Fun stuff."

He stepped towards the weather worn wood doors of the boathouse and peered through a crack in the wood. The Mordicant just dipped in behind a building, snuffling at the ground. Kevin motioned for Dyme to join him. "We are going to run to the beach, making the loudest racket we can. We can't let that thing get into town where it can ambush people."

They ran out, screaming at the top of their lungs. Much to the mixed dismay and joy of Kevin and Dyme, the Mordicant noticed their racket.

* * *

"So, you three wish to help us in our cause?"

"Yes."

"Yep."

"Whatever."

"I see. Well, I can understand the first two. But you, of all people. You are _his_ daughter after all. You know full well we were his enemy before he was destroyed."

"Well aware. He's nothing more than an old fool in my eyes."

"Spoken like a true Nobody."

"Yeah, boss I like her."

"Thank you for your input, Kin."

* * *

Vince ducked under a large willow that was in the middle of a forest, holding his mechanized arm that replaced the fleshy arm he removed a month ago. He heard someone yell out his name and he swore. "Damn, she's still on my tail."

Vince opened a portal and walked through. He found himself at an abandoned campsite. He saw clothes hanging from a clothesline and immediately came to a revelation as to how Reina was tracking him down so easily for the past week.

"They have a tracker on me. SHIT!" He looked at the clothesline and saw there was clothing hanging from it that would fit him perfectly. He quickly made a fire and stripped off his clothes. He threw everything into the fire and watched as something in his ignited boxers give off a rather loud _pop_ and he shuddered. He went to the clothes and picked off a jacket, a forest green shirt and a pair of black track pants. He grabbed a baseball hat and rummaged through the tent to find other things he could use to mask his identity.

He came out a few minutes later with hair that was dyed green and parted along the middle, rather than the usual yellow bed head style. He was wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes and a silver necklace that had a small, silver key. He tucked it into his hoodie and rummaged through the tent once more. He found a pair of clean sneakers, and a stash of ammunition and guns. He grabbed two handguns and as many cartridges as he could hold. He gave up trying to stuff them into his pockets and looked around for a backpack. He pulled a dark blue one out and stuffed three cartridges into one of the pockets.

He left the tent and looked around for a cooler that would have held the campers' food. He walked along the destroyed campsite and past the smoldering wreckage of an RV. He cringed with the realization that people were once in it.

He saw a red cooler hanging from a tree and he cut the twine that held it up. He caught it with a grunt of effort and placed it down.

Vince popped open the lid, throwing beer cans out of the way until he found sandwich bread, deli meat and lots of glorious donuts. He carefully packed the food in the main compartment of his pack and looked around himself. The place was a wreck alright. He could tell that people had died and there was even a couple of blood splatters on the wrecked tent and trees that he failed to notice before. His eyes turned to face the lake and he saw a body floating in the water.

There was a loud, gurgling noise and the water around the body exploded. As the fine mist cleared, the body disappeared and Vince shuddered.

He turned around and opened a portal. _Whoever lives on this world will have to deal with that thing. I'm out of here._

Reina appeared in the campsite, moments after Vince left. She looked around the site and realized everything was in ruins. She took out a notepad and began to scribble something down.

"Subject Vince's signal was last traced to this location. I am unsure as to what the name and nature of this world is. Something is blocking out any form of GPS so I cannot locate myself. It would appear as though the subject has ravaged this campsite in the hopes of further expanding the time he has before he is brought back for questioning. There is no one that is alive in this campsite and it is possible that Vince is the cause of this. However, this possibility is unlikely."

She stopped taking her notes and looked up thoughtfully as a deep gurgling sound came from the lake. Water went high into the air and a thick tendril of water flew at Reina. She warped away from it and froze the thick arm of water. There was an unearthly roar that erupted from the lake. Reina calmly pulled the notepad back out and continued writing notes, avoiding the water that flew at her with ease.

"Subject Vince did not destroy the campers present. It would appear as though a supernatural entity that haunts this lake is responsible. However, the subject remains the target and this supernatural entity will be left to the authorities of the world."

She warped just as the tendril flew at her. The snowflakes left behind melted as did the frozen parts of the lake.

* * *

Xunahs ripped apart one of the Dead Hands that tried advancing on him. He heard a young girl scream from inside a house and smashed down the door. He cut down the Dead that were advancing on her and he grabbed her by the hand. She was sobbing uncontrollably. "Don't worry." Xunahs said, smiling at her. "I'm here to help. Do you know where your family is?"

The girl nodded and pointed upstairs. Xunahs helped her stand up and turned around. "Climb onto my back, it'll be easier for both of us." The six year old girl climbed onto his back and Xunahs ran up the stairs; bouncing her sometimes to help lift her mood. By the time they reached her parent's door, the girl was giggling.

Xunahs slowly opened the door and saw the two adults huddled in a corner of the room. Xunahs scowled at them and got them to their feet. "I hope you are happy, you asses. If I didn't show up, your daughter would have died."

The two let out happy cries and the father grabbed their daughter in a tight hug.

"What do you want us to do?" The man asked, sobbing.

"Just run to the beach. Don't stop unless you drop her. I swear to God, if I find out she isn't there when I show up with my friends, I will make the two of you disappear."

He ran for the window and jumped out of it. He landed on the tall fence of the next door neighbour's house and evacuated everyone. He moved along the houses and helped people out.

Tom swung his axe down the length of a Dead Hand. Its two halves fell to the sides and he continued running, ripping apart any Dead that got close. He bashed down the door to an office building and started clearing everyone out.

He saw Kevin's mom run up to him. "Tom, where are Kevin and Xunahs?" She asked. Tom smiled. "Kevin is getting a way for everyone to get to safety, and Xunahs is evacuating everyone. Please get to the beach." Kevin's mother nodded, her tension lifted slightly.

"Thank Heavens. You need to be careful too, Tom."

"I can handle myself." He grinned and she returned the grin. "Okay, just be careful." She ran at the back of the stampeding employees and Tom ran outside. He was about to follow everyone else when he heard an unearthly screech. He spun around to see a Mordicant charging at him, liquid fire dripping from its open mouth.

Tom held the axe ready and let a wall of stone rise around him. The Mordicant collided with the wall and several cracks appeared along it. Tom swore and jumped above the wall. He collapsed the stone and watched it bury the Mordicant. He jumped down and stepped back. The rest of the wall collapsed and he put his hands on the ground. The rubble started shifting and the Dead was ground up by the churning stones.

Tom stood up. "That never gets old."

* * *

Lochit froze several Shadow Hands that swiftly and silently moved in on her. She ran in between them to assist people out of their houses. She stopped in front of a Mordicant that was incased in ice. She let out a loud raspberry and continued on her way.

She spun around, hearing ice cracking. She summoned her rapier and said, "Good job there, idiot."

The Mordicant broke out of its icy prison and charged at Lochit. She rolled to the left and got onto her feet she ran at the Greater Dead and sank her rapier into the back of its neck. She froze the ground in front of them and the Mordicant slid out of control. It went off its feet and spun on the ground. It hit the pavement and rolled out of control, throwing Lochit off its back.

She spun through the air and landed firmly on her feet. Several ice crystals formed around her and she smiled at the Mordicant that was on its feet once again. As it charged for her, she smiled and stepped forward. "Bang!" The wall of ice crystals flew at the Mordicant and ripped it to shreds.

She continued running along the street and finally got to her own house. "Mom, Dad, we need to get out of here, now!" She ran through the rooms and found her dad standing protectively in front of her mother. He was carrying an axe. He put it down and Lochit asked, "Dad… Are you guys okay?"

He nodded. "We are. The zombies just walked past us, down the way you came." Lochit swore and her mother gasped at the use of the language.

"It's a trap! Okay, run for the beach. I need to warn everyone else." She sprinted off and the two adults did the same.

Sora stepped outside of his house and was about to go Final Form when Lochit ran up to him, screaming for him to wait. He stopped and asked, "What is it, Lochit?"

She said something about there being a trap and Sora tilted his head to the right. "What?"

She took a deep breath. "The Dead, they aren't targeting us or any of the people. They just come after us if we threaten them. The person controlling them is using them to divert our attention."

"But from what?" Kairi asked, coming up to the group with Riku beside her. "Well, this is a necromancer, right? He could be dragging our attention away by making us attack another, non-existent threat when in actuality; he's trying to summon something really powerful."

Everyone stared at him.

"What? I was evil for a while; I know how these people think." Riku said.

Lochit sighed. "It doesn't matter. Sora, you're the quick one, get Tom and Xunahs, bring them to the beach. Kairi and Riku, come with me to the beach. We need to get Kevin."

Sora went into Final Form and sped off, leaving the other three to jog to the beach.

* * *

Kevin watched the oncoming horde of people. He opened his wings and flew above them when they came to a halt as Dyme tried to sort everyone out. He counted them and flew back down.

"1587. Give or take. Everyone else is on their way."

Suddenly, someone entered his mind and screamed, _It's a trap! Get everyone off the shore!_

A barrier formed around Kevin and Dyme and forced the islanders back. A thick fog filled the arena and curved bones exploded out of the ground, towering over the two. A girl jumped down from one of the bone pillars and landed on the sand lightly.

Kevin summoned Vortex and glared at the girl.

"Why hello Kevin, nice seeing you too." She bowed and Dyme asked, "Who are you?" Kevin was somewhat surprised by the bravery in his voice.

"I'm Halixat, cutie. Nice to meetcha." She tapped her cheek. "Kisses can come later."

"Just what we need. A flirtatious necromancer Heartless. Freaking great." Kevin groaned

* * *

Author's Note: Hoo-ee! That was fun to write. Yes, it is shorter than the previous chapter. Oh well, things will be starting off slowly and will eventually build up again.


	3. Halixat's Move

Chapter Three: Halixat's Move

Kevin ran for Halixat, but a giant skeletal hand shot out of the ground and grabbed him. Halixat walked up to him and held his chin gingerly.

"Oh my, don't act so rash, Kevin. We don't want you to die on us. That would ruin all of our fun." She pecked him on the lips and walked towards Dyme.

"Ah, Demyx. Well, you are a cutey, I'll admit. You make Kevin look like an old fart in comparison."

"HEY!"

"However, Kevin is much sexier."

"Thank you."

"But is nothing compared to the hunk of a man known as Xunahs." She smirked at the captive Nobody.

"Say what?"

The hand sank into the ground, slowly dragging Kevin under and a maze of skeletal arms shot above the ground. She smiled at Dyme. "I have a challenge for you. Get to the center of the maze before time runs out, and your new friend doesn't breathe sand."

Dyme swallowed to remove the lump in his throat. He nodded and squeaked something incoherent. He rubbed his nose, hopefully trying to make it seem like it was a sneeze.

"You have fifteen minutes. If you smash the walls, the time you have is dropped by a minute. Believe me, you'll need every second." She blew him a kiss. "For good luck."

Halixat disappeared, leaving Dyme alone on the beach. He dismissed his sitar and sprinted down the path of skeletal arms.

* * *

Xunahs gaped from outside the barrier, watching Kevin slowly sink down into the sand. He started bashing on the barrier. "Let me in, damn it! Let me in!"

Tom pulled him back. "Stop it, we can't do anything. There was someone else with him; hopefully he can deal with whatever's happening.

_And don't worry, really. I am working on breaking out right now._ Kevin told Xunahs mentally.

Xunahs saw Kevin trapped in the giant skeletal hand. He wasn't even moving a finger. Xunahs resumed his assault of the barrier.

* * *

Dyme cried in frustration as he met another dead end. He was two minutes in and he was still nowhere near Kevin. Suddenly an idea hit him and he summoned his sitar. He started playing a tune and a jet of water erupted below him and launched him into the air. He flew over the wall of bones and continued on his way.

* * *

People in the crowd outside let out a loud cheer as Dyme made his way towards the center. Sora looked over at his two friends and said, "That water pillar looked a lot like something Demyx would use."

Riku nodded. "Yeah… Do you think it was him?"

Kairi looked at the two of them. "Who cares? He's getting to the middle now. If he gets there in time, Kevin can get out."

* * *

Halixat appeared in front of Dyme and smiled sweetly at him. "Cute _and_ smart. A good combination! But, you were cheating. Minus three minutes." Kevin let out a cry as he fell down another foot.

Halixat hummed thoughtfully. "But, you did get yourself five minutes. You have a two minute advantage. Gogogo!"

She disappeared again and Dyme continued running. "Damn Heartless is like Luxord. So many _games_. Ugh. At least he didn't like putting me in mazes."

He zigzagged throughout the maze and quickly found himself in an opening. The hands making up the walls crossed to fence off the exits and several Halixat appeared in front of him.

"Beat the me-clone and you get an extra minute! Lose, and you lose fifteen!"

"But I'm a lover, not a fighter!" He whined.

The clone chuckled. "Aw, so cute!"

He started playing a tune and smiled malevolently at her. "Shut up."

Outside the barrier, Sora cringed at the music being played. "Oh God. Not _that_ music. Anything but that!"

"DANCE WATER, DANCE!"

Sora started weeping. "So. Damn. Annoying."

Dyme grinned as his own water clones surrounded Halixat. "And you have forty-five seconds to beat my water clones, if you don't… It's game over and I get to run along!"

She stumbled backwards, the sheer number of Demyx clones in front of her enough to make her back off. "A hundred? That's not fair!"

She glared at him, and he returned her glare with a grin. "Thirty seconds, now. Can you keep up with the beat?"

A pillar of water shot up from under the Halixat clone and threw her high up into the air. Dyme fired a bunch of spheres of water at her until she vanished.

Dyme dismissed his sitar and watched as the water making up the clones got soaked into the sand. Some of the water moved in small streams towards the center of the maze and he continued on his way.

Kevin grinned, watching the water move towards him. "Thanks Dyme. Whether you realize it or not, you just got me out. He flicked his fingers and made small lines of water spin around the finger bones that held him in place. The part of the crowd that watched him through the clearing remained silent, watching him work diligently at taking apart his prison.

They let out a loud cheer as the bones broke away and Kevin fell into the sand. He scrambled out of the pit and watched the fingerless hand swipe at the empty air. He summoned Vortex and opened his mechanized wings. He jumped off the ground and flew at the wristbone, slicing it in half with the Keyblade. He landed on the other side of the pit and heard a loud roar come from the ground underneath him.

Kevin paled. "Oh no way, there was actually something attached to it?"

The bone maze collapsed, as did the barrier. Dyme saw Kevin and ran to him. Xunahs, Tom, Sora, Riku, Kairi and Lochit were close behind.

Dyme saw Sora and stepped back. "Oh crap. Oh crap oh crap oh crap."

Sora turned to face him. "Demyx, is that really you?" Dyme nodded sheepishly, his left hand extended behind him as if he were getting ready to open a portal.

"Are you with the bad guys?" He asked threateningly, getting into his famous crouching Sora swinging Keyblade fighting stance. Dyme let out a meep and stepped backwards.

"Eheheh…" His left hand was shaking violently and he was mouthing out the words "Open… open…"

Sora grinned and stood back up. "Don't worry about it. I'd say you aren't a bad guy, after all, you wouldn't try helping someone that was in danger."

Kevin was going to say something, but Xunahs lunged at him and covered Kevin's mouth with his hand. Kevin muffled something out and Xunahs looked sick and he immediately withdrew his hand, groaning in disgust. Kevin stood up and said, "What makes you so sure we aren't allies?"

Sora was about to make a comeback when the ground trembled and a giant, black skeleton came up from the ground. The Heartless symbol floated in mid-air in front of its ribcage that still had most of its internal organs inside. Halixat appeared out of nowhere and said, "This is Chaos. My little pet, please be gentle, Chaos. Venxik wants Kevin alive. Barely alive is okay."

She left through a portal and everyone present summoned their weapons.

"This is going to be _too fun_." Sora said, looking up at the giant Heartless. Riku nodded. "Yeah, just leave it to us."

Kairi stepped up, her own Keyblade held ready. "Yeah, _us._"

* * *

Halixat let out a yell and punched a wall in The Castle That Never Was. The wall crumpled inwards and Venxik appeared at her side. "Who be hurtin' my castle?"

She glared at him and then returned her attention to the damage she caused. "I be hurtin' your castle. Do you have a problem with that?"

"None whatsoever."

"Good. I am pissed off, right now."

Venxik looked at the wall. "No way!. PMSing?"

She whipped around to face him. "Pardon?"

"Nothing."

She held a dagger to his throat. "You are a very annoying person at times, you know that, right?"

Venxik grinned at her. "I do what I can." Her eye twitched and she punched him in the chest.

He hugged his chest and looked sadly at her. "What was that for? Take it out on the asses on the islands, not the guy that can control whether or not you exist."

She glowered at him and her tantrum ceased. "You're right. If they're going to cheat, so will I. Taataa."

She left again and Somaxth appeared behind Venxik. "She's scary." He whispered. Venxik nodded. "Definitely PMSing."

* * *

Screams filled the crowd of people. Kevin turned to the screams to see the Heartless attacking people. He swore and ran to fight off the Heartless, as did Lochit, Xunahs and Tom.

"I have had enough _games_." Halixat roared over the chaos. The crowd disappeared and all of the people were replaced by varying Heartless. "I will make you all experience terror like you have never witness before!"

Skeletal hands reached up from the ground and grabbed each of the four combatants and dragged them off to separate sections of the beach. They all became cut off from each other by walls of bone and the Heartless filed into the pens Halixat made for them. Kevin immediately realized how all of this room on the beach was impossible and saw how there was so much. The water was being drained away.

He swore and backed off as the Heartless began filing in. There was around three hundred of them. Most of them were Soldiers and Neoshadows, but there was the odd Surveillance Bot in the massive army.

Kevin watched the Heartless stampede towards him and he held Vortex ready. A Neoshadow popped out of the ground in front of him and tried to slash him with its claws. Kevin used a thunder spell on it and destroyed it while it was stunned. He ran towards the small army of Heartless, letting out a battle cry that went as such: "BATTLE CRY!" (you knew it was coming, so did I.)

* * *

Sora ran up the length of the black, skeletal arm and smashed Ultima Weapon on the back of the giant Heartless skeleton's skull. He heard a crack as the Keyblade made contact with the skull and he jumped off, just in time to avoid getting hit by Way to the Dawn. He landed next to Kairi on the sand and smiled at her. Halixat came out of nowhere and threw Sora away with a blast of energy.

Halixat grabbed Kairi's shoulder in a crushing grip; a malicious smile touched her lips. "Now, to hurt you where it really counts." She pulled out a knife and made a few jabbing motions with it. Kairi's eyes widened in fear at the motion and Sora got back up onto his feet. He went into Final Form, Ultima Weapon and Fenrir spun furiously around him. "LET GO OF HER!"

He flew at Halixat, throwing up sand behind him. Just before his Keyblades were in reach of the Heartless, Halixat sank into the sand, as she dragged Kairi down with her, she smiled mockingly at the Keybearer and said, "Nice try, Sora."

Sora stopped and began furiously digging at the sand with his hands. "Kairi! Come back! Kairi!"

The giant skeleton disappeared and Riku landed next to Sora. "Sora, where's Kairi?"

Sora looked up at Riku, his cheeks were red and moist with tears.

"They took her. They took her away! Riku, we need to get her back!"

* * *

Lochit jumped off of the Assault Rider she had impaled and launched a barrage of icicles at the Heartless below her. She landed on her feet and looked up at a floating Fortuneteller Heartless. She smiled. "Nice to see ya." She destroyed its crystal ball and stabbed it in the chest as it plummeted too the ground. "Wouldn't want to be ya."

She ran through the crowd, destroying any Heartless that got close and any of them that were far away, just for laughs.

* * *

Like Lochit and Kevin, Tom was having very much fun with destroying the Heartless. He just sat on the sand, smiling as waves of Heartless got crushed and buried alive by the beach. Finally, he jumped up and shouted, "HAHAHAHA! FOOLS! YOU THINK YOUR PITIFUL NUMBERS MEAN ANYTING TO ME? I LIVED IN THE DESERT FOR EIGHT YEARS, REFINING MY POWERS OVER THE SANDY EARTH!"

He punched a Neoshadow that had gotten close to him and looked thoughtfully at the sky. "Eight _months_. Woops, my bad."

* * *

Xunahs ran down the Heartless, slicing them in halves, impaling them and decapitation. The odd ones that avoided him got a faceful of toxic fumes.

Three Large Bodies boxed him in. They bent their stubby legs, getting ready to jump. Xunahs did the same.

They jumped into the air and Xunahs leaped high above them. They landed on the ground, sending sand flying everywhere and Xunahs landed on the shoulders of another. He hopped from the shoulders of the giant Heartless, slicing his broadsword through their necks and shoulders as he ran along.

He looked over at the west end of the beach and saw a bunch of Armored Knight Heartless prancing around on their metal peg-legs. Xunahs let out a deranged cackle and ran towards them, swinging his sword furiously.

Surely nothing is as entertaining as watching a group of Heartless panic at noon.

* * *

Halixat stepped up to Venxik on the Altar of Naught, holding Kairi by the scruff of the neck.

"What do you think we should do with her?" She asked the Heartless, whose back was turned to them.

He turned around gracefully and smiled maliciously at Kairi. "Whatever you want to do with her."

Kairi's eyes widened. "Kevin?"

A mirror materialized in front of Venxik and he examined his reflection. "Hmm, I guess I could pass off as Kevin… Does my voice sound like his?"

He threw the mirror off the tower and returned his attention to the captive princess. He immediately bowed mockingly.

"Oh! Where are my manners, princess? I am Venxik, ruler of this castle and the most powerful being this side of the universe." He lightly lifted her hand and kissed it. Halixat made a gagging noise and Venxik winked at her. "You're a real _charmer_." She said angrily. Venxik chuckled.

"Oh, I have my moments. Also, if you want to keep her, she's your responsibility; you must pay for her food, clean up after her and make sure she doesn't get sick." He shook his finger threateningly in her face.

"Oh I will, for reals and for trues!" Halixat hopped giddily and hugged Venxik. "Oh you're the bestest best friend ever!"

Kairi looked confused. "Uh, are the two of you… sane?"

They broke up their hug and Venxik grinned at her. "As sane as one gets." He walked away, cackling maniacally.

* * *

Ashlee took a bite out of the juicy, red apple in her hands. She and Tahlia sat next to each other in the apple tree Ashlee had picked the apple from. Her new home was peaceful, there wasn't the occasional jackass. Actually, any kind of jackass was non-existent.

"Well, in three minutes, our break is over and we have to go back to the fields." Tahlia sighed.

Ashlee sighed too. "Oh yeah, farm work. Oh joy."

She jumped down from the tree and said, "Race you there!" Tahlia jumped down and grinned at her. "You're on."

Tahlia sprinted off and Ashlee jogged at a leisurely pace. Tahlia turned around and jogged backwards. "What's keeping you, old lady?" Ashlee grinned and raised her hand up in the sky. "STOP!" Tahlia froze in place and Ashlee ran full-speed ahead.

The spell wore off and Ashlee was a good ten meters ahead of Tahlia. She swore and began to sprint for Ashlee. "No fair, you cheated!"

Ashlee ignored her and kept on running.

Suddenly, the noon sky became black and Ashlee collided with a girl that stood in her way. She looked up to see the girl was dressed in a dark purple jacket. Under said jacket was a black shirt with a pair of black track pants and her wavy, blonde hair had a black star pinned in the left side.. The girl stared down at her with emerald green eyes and smiled at the Nobody.

She summoned two black scimitars and said, "Nice to meet you, sis."

Ashlee jumped back and summoned the silver Keyblade, Chronus. "Do I know you from somewhere?" She asked.

The girl laughed and poked Ashlee in the chest with the tip of one of the swords. "Not totally, let's just say I was a part of you at one point."

She swept away some of the bangs that were hanging above her brow and revealed the Heartless symbol on her forehead.

Ashlee stepped back a bit. "Who _are_ you?"

The girl stepped forward. "Leashex, your Heartless."

She dashed at Ashlee and swung one of the black scimitars at her head. Ashlee ducked and rolled away. She got onto her feet and leaped at Leashex. She held Chronus high and was about to smash Leashex on the head when black vines shot out of the ground and ensnared the Nobody. The twined around her and she was lifted up into the air.

Ashlee looked around; Tahlia was nowhere to be seen. No one was.

Suddenly, the vines snapped and disappeared. Ashlee began plummeting to the ground and just before she made impact, Leashex grabbed her.

Tahlia jumped from a tree and tried to stab Leashex in the back, but the Heartless turned around and the kunai sank into Ashlee's skull.

Leashex grinned as Ashlee screamed in pain. "Fail ninja is fail."

The black vines that had Ashlee trapped twined up and around the Heartless and her captive. They disappeared, along with Tahlia's kunai.

She sank to her knees and held her head in her hands. "Oh crap, what have I done?"

After a minute of self-pity, Tahlia got back onto her feet. She looked around herself and realized everything was vanishing, being sucked away. "CRAP! The world is going!" She opened a portal and ran through it.

* * *

Everyone was huddled around Sora, trying to comfort the Keybearer.

"Don't worry." Riku said. "We'll get her back. They're going to pay for what they did."

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, we all have issues with them. Take Venxik for instance, if it wasn't for him, none of this would have happened in the first place. And he's my mess, seeing as how he's my Heartless. So, I need to take care of him. Sora, get back up on your feet and cheer up."

"Nothing ever got done by worrying needlessly." Lochit said comfortingly. "If Xochitl's memory serves, Venxik won't do anything to Kairi. He is only using her as bait to get you to play hero and save her."

Sora nodded slowly and Riku helped him back to his feet. "Don't worry, you nub. We'll help you bring her back." Kevin said. "It's a promise."

Xunahs cracked a grin. "And he'd say 'Cross my heart, hope to die…' but, he lacks a heart, so that would make the promise null and void."

Kevin glared at him. The glare quickly turned to shock as Xunahs was knocked over by a Tahlia-sized projectile.

She got hastily onto her feet and began screaming something incoherent about how this girl named Leashex had attacked her.

Kevin shook her roughly by the shoulders. "What the heck are you talking about?" He said, still shaking the Nobody.

"Leashex, Ashlee's Heartless popped up and kidnapped your dream girl. Happy?" Kevin dropped Tahlia and looked up at the sky.

"You're kidding me, right?"

Tahlia shook her head. "Nope, and everyone else on that world is as good as gone, by the looks of it."

Kevin sighed and turned to Sora. "I guess we both have a better reason to go kick their asses now, huh."

Before Sora could say anything, Kevin turned around. "And on that note, I am getting changed. If we're going on a long, perilous quest, I do not plan on running around in shorts and t-shirt. Those things are always easy to tear apart."

Lochit looked at her own clothes and sighed. "Dude's got a point. We meet back here?"

"Yep. Xunahs, since the two of you live together, go relay the info. I do hate the thought of having my clothes get ripped off. Damn the bastard for even mentioning it." Tom said. He ran off with Lochit.

Xunahs sighed. "Okay, fine." He ran after Kevin down the street.

Xunahs slammed open Kevin's bedroom door. "God damn you… For running so fast…" He looked up at Kevin and paled. Kevin looked over at him for a moment and dived behind the bed.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" He roared.

"And why are you naked anyways?" Xunahs yelled back.

"I got sand in my boxers, you ass! I am not dealing with gritty sand getting in my important bits!"

A very strong gust of wind pushed Xunahs, and a few objects in the room out and Kevin stomped towards the door, slammed it and got re-dressed.

Xunahs went to his own room and removed his dark green clothes. He put on a grey hoodie and dark green jeans. He went into the hallway and knocked on Kevin's door.

"What do you want now?" He asked impatiently.

"Just wanted to know if you were still getting dressed, I figured Ashlee'd like a picture for when you brought her back." Xunahs heard stomping from the other side of the door and imagined Kevin ripping the door off its hinges and roaring at him like some prehistoric beast, but the door was opened slowly and Kevin stepped out from the room. "I am fully dressed, and raring to go."

Xunahs looked at Kevin's navy blue jacket and the white t-shirt underneath as well as a pair of jeans.

"I see you decided to wear mom's jacket of choice for you. What the hell took so long in there anyways?" Xunahs asked.

Kevin glared at him. "Nothing."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Xunahs smirked at his brother, enjoying the way Kevin was looking for a way out. "I can learn one way or another. I can go all forms of mental mojo on you, and you would be an open book. Now tell me."

Kevin backed off. "Nothing, nothing at all! STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!"

Xunahs stopped advancing and turned around. "Fine then. I'll see you at the beach. If you need more time to yourself, let me know and I can tell everyone else to wait while you deal with your special stuff."

Kevin glared at Xunahs. "It's. Not. That." Xunahs smirked. "Oh really?"

Kevin went to the closet and took a backpack out. "Yeah, really. I was getting some stuff for the journey."

Xunahs narrowed his eyes. "But why were you _naked_?"

Kevin glared at his foster brother. "Because _I had_ _sand in my shorts_."

"You could have dumped it out when you were fighting the Heartless." Xunahs said.

"And be naked in front of a multitude of sentient beings? For some reason, being prison bait for the embodiments of darkness in people's hearts is none too appealing."

Xunahs sighed. "I have to agree with you on that one. But are we going now?"

Kevin nodded. "Yep, but will you not bring this up? Seriously, the last thing I need is for Lochit and Tahlia to be asking awkward questions like, 'oh, was it big?'."

Xunahs looked horrified. "That's horrifying."

Kevin nodded once again. "Yep, gym class. One of the jocks… Ugh."

"Sufficient information. Thank you Kevin." Xunahs said in an annoyed voice.

Kevin winked at him. "Well hey, I am allowed to let my brother get mind raped at least twice a day."

"Well, let's hope it doesn't branch off into other kinds of rape." He replied.

"Ooh, good point."

* * *

Fifteen minutes of walking down the deserted streets was weird. It was noon; people would be walking around and doing their daily activities. Yet, the world was devoid of human life again.

"We're just lucky the Keyhole was sealed." Xunahs said. Kevin looked over at him. "What?"

"I read your mind, you twit. You don't have to worry about things. We can just bring everyone back with Kingdom Hearts like we did last time. Also, thank your recent memory for making it quite obvious that Kevin didn't do what he was accused off. I was actually worried for a moment there. That would have been cold dude… 'Oh hey! My girlfriend has vanished! Let's go-" Kevin smacked him upside the head.

"There is no need for that."

Xunahs rubbed his chin. "Yessir. Sorry sir."

Kevin glared at him. "No really. There is absolutely no need for that, whatsoever."

Xunahs sighed. "Fine."

About ten minutes after their arrival back at the beach, they heard Lochit yelling at Tom. "You didn't need that shower, you twit!"

"It's not my fault you walked in on me when I was getting undressed! And besides, I needed to be cleaned!"

"You had a shower yesterday!"

"I don't care! And you still walked in on me!"

"Well good God, you annoying prick, if you left the damn door locked like every other normal person, maybe you wouldn't have to worry about that!"

"The shower was _on_!"

Sora looked over at Kevin and Xunahs. "How old are they again?"

"Fifteen and sixteen. Oh, speaking of seeing the person you live with n—" Kevin covered Xunahs' mouth.

_You ass._ Kevin hissed at his brother via mental link.

_You deserved it._

_FOR WHAT?_

_I don't know. I'm sure I will think of something later._

Tahlia looked at Xunahs wide eyed; Sora and Riku were unmoved, as was Tom, who was within hearing range of Xunahs' outburst. Xochitl was interested.

"Oh, was it big?" Tahlia asked.

Xunahs' jaw hung slack and Kevin smacked him hard on the back. "Your comeuppance, monsieur."

* * *

Author's Note: This had everything from a game, to a pissed off Heartless, to an easy and cheap blow to Sora, and then Kevin. It then blossomed into crude sex jokes between Kevin and Xunahs, followed by Karma kicking the little brother where it counts. Good chapter is good.. -goes back to relentless grinding in Disgaea DS-


	4. Warning: Explodes When Thrown

Chapter Four: Warning: Explodes When Thrown!

"It… Uh…" Xunahs looked around for help. He finally looked up at his brother with sad eyes. "Help?"

Kevin grinned at Xunahs. _I could kill you right here and now, Xunahs. I could say one thing that would either make Tahlia squeal and hug you, or make her terrified of you._

Xunahs looked up. Wide eyed with horror. _What are you going to say…?_

"Want to know?" Kevin asked.

Tahlia looked at Kevin and Xunahs gasped. Kevin grinned at Xunahs, showing his teeth. He looked like he was deep in thought for a second. "Nah, I don't think I will. It'll just stay up here for a while." He tapped the side of his head. "Information that will be used when the time is needed." He turned to face Xunahs. "I will watch you like a hawk, at the very first screw up, I am letting this information out. Be afraid. Be very afraid."

Sora looked from the two brothers, over to Tom and Lochit, who were still arguing. He looked at Riku. "Are we the only sane ones?"

Riku shook his head. "No, we are the only ones that aren't shoved into awkward situations that cause tension and arguments between us."

Kevin yawned. "Anyways, are we ready to get going to Mickey's?"

Dyme ran along the beach to them. He stopped and was doubled over in pain. "Oh God… So much running. Sorry guys, I was getting the Gummi Ship ready for our trip."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You know where we're going?"

Dyme shook his head. "No, not at all. But, I know we are leaving, this place is a wasteland, unless Lochit and Tahlia want to help with repopulating the island, our only choice is to leave."

Everyone looked shocked by Dyme's comment. Tom cracked his knuckles and Dyme raised his hands up, flailing them madly. "It was a joke! Don't hit me! A JOKE DAMN IT! A JOOOKE!"

Lochit held Tom's shoulders. "It's okay, Tommer, it's really no big deal for you." Ice formed out of the air and floated around her. "He insulted my ladiness, and I must have my revenge."

She advanced on Dyme. "Prepare to be fillet, fishy boy."

Dyme squealed and hid behind Kevin, who looked nervously at everyone around him.

"Move." She growled. A fine sweat broke over Kevin's brow.

"Yes ma'am." He stepped aside and the ice flew at Dyme.

Demyx summoned his Sitar and batted everything away with water pillars and the instrument itself. He sighed and put away the weapon. "Sorry."

Lochit looked amazed. "Dude, I wasn't _really_ going to kill you. They were going to be stopped just before they touched you."

"Coulda tricked me..." Kevin said.

Sora groaned in frustration. "What are we doing, waiting around here for? We need to get going!" He ran along the beach to where Dyme came from, and everyone followed.

Mickey jumped up from the throne to greet the group of seven that ran in. Goofy and Donald, who were next to the king and queen, ran to Sora, grabbing him in a crushing hug.

"Guys, get off! Please!" Sora said, holding the two in a hug of his own.

"Gawrsh Sora, we can't let you go. You're holding us too!" Goofy chuckled and Donald flailed his legs uselessly, trying to break out of Sora's grip.

Riku walked past the three and up to Mickey. They hugged and Riku said, "We have a problem."

Minnie and Mickey exchanged worried glances and Mickey said,"Tell us, please."

* * *

Somaxth jumped off of Ruby and landed on the Altar of Naught. "That was one hell of a vacation." He said.

Venxik turned around to face him. "Good to see you back. Did you enjoy your stay in nature?"

"Quite."

"Good. Halixat has wound up the 'good guys', so they will be active very soon. I hope you can drop the Zen Master thing long enough to destroy our enemies."

Somaxth grinned. "Zen Master? I just like quiet, if getting a rid of these guys will mean quietness; I will be more than happy to."

He left and Venxik grinned. "Oh goodie, this will be fun to watch."

"Indeed it will." Venxik turned around to see a young girl dressed in a black cloak. Like Organization XIII's own cloaks.

"Who are you?" He asked dryly.

"Someone that shares a common interest with you." She replied sweetly.

"And what interest would that be?"

She opened a portal. "I guess you'll have to figure that out for yourself."

Venxik held out his hand and the girl gasped as she was dragged backwards. When he let go of her cloak. She turned around and spat at his feet. "What's your _problem_? You're supposed to be a pacifist."

Venxik cracked his knuckles. "Do we want to learn if it's fact or fiction, right here and now?"

She lifted her hood. "Perhaps some other time. Do you know who I am now?"

Venxik grinned. "Yes, I do. More Nobodys from alternate dimensions. It's becoming a headache. I need to keep better track of you guys."

The girl nodded. "You do. Anyways, good luck with your own Nobodys. I'm sure you will figure out our common interest soon enough."

"Universal domination?"

"Possibly."

* * *

"So, how did your meeting with Venxik go?" Kin asked.

"He's creepy. He knows a lot more than he lets on. He knows that I am not even from around here. Something's not right about him. If it comes down to a fight between all of us and all of them, we'd have numbers and we'd topple Leashex and Somaxth, but Venxik would probably kill us off, one by one."

"What about Halixat?"

"She's disappeared. I looked all around the castle for a long time and came up with nothing."

"Yeah, you were its lady leader for a while, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but my sister took that away. It's her fault that I'm here today. If I ever meet her again, I won't hesitate to make her suffer a slow and painful death."

"Eesh, that sounds pleasant." Someone said from behind them. The girl tilted her head backwards to look up at the sadistic smile of the other Nobody she had been in the interview with. "Ello Lar-Lar. Having fun?"

"These guys are a lot more… Colourful than the others, I actually made friends with someone besides Marluxia."

The girl smiled up at her. "That's good."

"Yep, more mind-slaves for me."

"How long before they're broken to doing your every command?" She asked.

"Oh, a few weeks. I haven't pulled out my bitchiness yet; these guys know how to curb their fear a lot more than Organization XIII used to. Sometimes, I would even get to Xemnas."

"Heh."

"And how goes it on your end?" She asked the young girl.

"Well, I met up with the most interesting man. We share a common interest. Who knows, we may even be rivals."

"I doubt it. He wouldn't see you as an equal." The man that was with the two girls during the interview said, leaning over the black couch the others was sitting on.

"Well, that only means that we have more in common. Before you know it, we will be going on long walks down the beach! I should have gotten his number."

The two older Nobodys chuckled. "You are a lot more entertaining than he was." The man said.

"Well, having a tone to my voice seems to be a good way to get friends. So, why not try it out?"

"Too true."

* * *

Vince backed up against a building. There was nowhere to go. The people in the small town said there were vampires running around, attacking anyone that went stray. He heard footsteps and a puddle splash. A silhouetted figure walked down the alley. Vince stood up and summoned his scythe. "If you want some blood, you're going to have to fight for it." He growled.

The figure stopped and her mask became illuminated by a passing car's light. "No, I am not interested in your blood. But it will be shed. Superior isn't too happy about you running away so much."

There was a thunderclap and rain began falling down. Reina looked up at the sky, smiling under her mask. "Beautiful. The heavens themselves want you to pay for your stupidity. Vince, your end has come. Come peacefully and I will try to get Superior to make it quick and painless." She offered her hand.

Vince stepped back. "Do you even realized what you just said? Seriously! You don't care what happens to me, not at all! I remember what you did two months ago; you cut open my stomach with that damned weapon of yours. You knew you were supposed to go light on me so that I didn't get hurt too badly, but you did anyways and my stomach took some serious damage! You're lucky I am still alive, you bitch!"

Reina froze a few of the raindrops around her and she smiled. "Do you really think he cares about your well being? He tortures you for the smallest things. You're just a pet to him, nothing more, nothing less."

Vince held his scythe high. "Fine, I will destroy you myself. Prepare to die." He ran at her, the scythe cut a deep groove into the wall as he passed it. He stopped and spun, pulling the scythe through and out the wall. Several shards of brick flew at Reina and she stumbled back under the force of the projectiles slamming into her chest.

"I will make sure you perish." She spat. The rain around them froze and Reina smiled. "Bye-bye Vince."

Vince grinned and dismissed his scythe. The raindrops faltered for a minute. "So, you're giving up?" Reina asked.

Vince smacked the walls on either side of him with his hands and said, "No. I am crushing your hopes." The ground trembled and the buildings started shaking violently. Vince opened a portal. "It's been nice knowing you, Reina."

The buildings collapsed into the alley and Reina warped out just in time.

Superior turned around as Reina appeared in front of him. She tottered slightly on the spot and he frowned at her.

"Boss, I'm sorry. He gave me the slip. He…"

"Developed a new power?" He asked.

She looked up. "Yes! But how…?"

He turned to face her. "Reina, you know as well as I do that he was going to pull another power out of his rear. We can't forget that as much as we pretend to know everything about him, we know nothing because no signs of abilities surfaced until he became a Nobody. Even then, they were useless abilities. Now he's becoming something of a threat."

Reina nodded and said, "You're right. What do you need me to do to bring him back now?"

"He lured you there, and you know it. He's cunning, but so are you. Don't blindly charge in, lure him into an open area and do what you do best."

Reina nodded. "Yes, sir. Okay."

_His expression..__. It was so empty. Just what have you done to him?_

"I understand. I will be back with his butt on a silver platter." She warped away and Superior watched the monitor in front of him with interest. Kevin had just given a speech to King Mickey and Queen Minnie, they looked troubled.

* * *

"Whelp! Nothing can be done by standing around, moping." Mickey said.

Kevin smacked his forehead and turned to face Xunahs and Lochit. "I forgot something that is really big... Uh, yeah! Mind telling me where Venxik is right now?"

Xunahs and Lochit looked from one another, to the head-shaking king and returned their attention to Kevin. "Yes, we do mind telling you. It would end in bad things." They said in unison.

Kevin glared at them and returned his attention to Mickey.

"Listen, I can't send you in! It's too dangerous, Venxik has grown extremely powerful since you defeated Raynx, I wouldn't even consider sending you all, with myself included in at once." Mickey said.

Kevin stepped forward. "Fine! What do you expect we do? Sit down and do nothing?"

Mickey shook his head. "No. Get stronger, you all need each other right now. None of you are ready to take on Venxik. I want you to go see your friends on other worlds and make sure they are okay. Please, don't try to track down Venxik's hideout. Please."

Kevin looked down at his feet. "Yes, your Majesty. I'm sorry."

Mickey nodded slowly. "Good. Thank you, all of you."

Lochit decided to speak after the argument ended. "You're welcome, so how does this work? We're getting split up, right?"

Mickey nodded. "Yep! I want Sora, Riku, Goofy and Donald to go together, while Kevin, Xunahs, Lochit, Tahlia and Tom stay in one group."

"What about me?" Dyme asked, waving his hand. Mickey smiled kindly at the ex-Organization XIII member. "You can go with Sora's group." Sora and Dyme both let out moans of despair at the suggestion.

"I could take his place." Tom offered.

Everyone looked at him with shock. "_You_?" Kevin asked. "But, you need to be with us! It isn't _us_ without _you_!"

Tahlia flailed her arms up in the air and said, "Really! This is stupid. Tom, please stay with us."

Lochit held Tom's shoulder and asked, "Why do you want to go with them, Tom?"

Tom looked her in the eyes and said, "Because of this Superior guy."

"What?"

"He has it out for me, you know that. He killed my family out of cold blood and will go after you guys, because I will be with you. If he goes after me while I am Sora, Riku, Goofy and Donald, maybe we can take him down. Sora and Riku are strong, and can easily take care of themselves. If I am with them, you guys will be safe because you won't be attacked." He said.

"What makes you so sure?!" She cried, tears ran down her flushed cheeks. "Tom, this is stupid! You know full well that if 'Superior' wanted to hurt you emotionally, he'd go directly for us! It doesn't matter who you're with, we'll be in danger none the less. So please, stay with us!"

Tom gave out a shuddering sigh and said, "He can't hurt me emotionally, I don't have a heart."

She let out a furious scream and punched him hard in the jaw. "You son of a bitch!"

Tom rubbed his jaw and looked at Lochit sadly. "I'm sorry." He grabbed her in a hug. She pushed him off and he joined Sora's group. Dyme walked over to join Kevin's group, avoiding Lochit, who was being consoled by Tahlia and Xunahs.

"Tom, are you positive about this?" Mickey asked, glancing at the scene with a worried expression.

Tom looked over at Lochit, who was being hugged by Tahlia, Xunahs was looking back at Tom with a mix of anger and understanding. "Yes, your Majesty, I am one hundred percent sure about this."

Mickey's tail and ears drooped. "Okay. I understand. It's impossible to get you guys to change your minds when you make them up. Sora, I want you to go to the worlds you've been to before, to get any information you can on what's going on with Venxik. Kevin, I want you to do the same. The first place I want you to go to is Veldime, your friends Adell and Rozalin have told you about it, right?"

Kevin's eyes widened. "Veldime? Sweet! How do I get there?"

"It's been programmed into your Gummi Ship's computer. Just get Dyme to fly you there; he's the only one that can, judging by how you crash landed your ship back in Twilight Town."

Kevin sighed. "Yep. Dyme, take the wheel. FORWARD MARCH!"

Kevin marched out of the throne room, and everyone looked at each other uncertainly. Mickey smiled and waved them off and they ran after Kevin, to the Gummi Ship hangar.

* * *

Reina walked out into a grassy field. It was perfect; the Creepers said he was here somewhere

She looked around; there was a boulder, a cliff behind her, and a tree that had a sleeping teenager under it. She saw Vince come out through a hole in the rock wall. He didn't see her yet, which was good. She warped and appeared in front of Vince. Before he could say anything, she grabbed him by the front of his jacket and threw him out of the cave. She made a barrier that covered the entire field and summoned her ice spear. "It ends here and now, Vince."

The teen under the tree sat up from his sleeping position and put a book aside. He beat the wrinkles out of his grey, cotton shirt and his black jeans. He stretched and walked over to the two Nobodys.

"Is there something wrong, madam?" He asked. She noticed his Australian accent. _No one here sounds like that..._

She turned the weapon to the teenager, taking note of his red eyes. "Who are you?" She asked.

The teen took the ice spear out of her hands gently and snapped it. "Someone that doesn't appreciate women beating on kids. If you have a problem, solve it with words."

She glared at him through the mask. "What's your name?" She asked.

There was a tremor and several rocks came out of the ground and formed a solid mace. "My name's Somaxth, second only to Venxik in rank. If you don't step down, I will be forced to resort to violence."

She reached for a glowing spear that was in her quiver and held it out at Somaxth. "If that's the case, then prepare to die." She whispered.

Somaxth slammed his fist into the ground and a stalagmite shot out of the ground and broke the spear in half. "Really, Reina. I know who you are. Some of my little buddies here watched you take on the other Heartless back at End of the World. I know your tricks. You aren't scary; bring on your 'death'. And just leave the kid alone."

Reina scowled at him. "Don't you dare meddle in the affairs of our people."

Somaxth raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so what was it that you were doing back at End of the World. Those were _our_ traitors. They were our problem, not yours."

Reina glared at him. "You're only a kid! What makes you think you can get away with talking to me like that?"

Somaxth smiled at her. "Nothing makes me think I can get away with talking down to you, except for simple fact."

Reina returned the smile. "I see, but do you know who I am?"

"I have a hunch."

"Oh, really?" She lifted the mask and Somaxth nodded. "Yep, I thought so." She put the mask back on.

"Yeah, sure." She jumped into the air and threw a spear down at Vince. The Nobody summoned his scythe and batted it away.

Without looking back, Somaxth said, "Oh? I guess I'm not needed then..."

Vince up walked beside him. "Nah, you aren't, but your help is appreciated. I guess I can push aside the fact that you're a Heartless long enough to accept your help."

"And I shall ignore the fact that you were meddling in our affairs. Oh hey, kid. Are you _his_ Nobody?"

"I am not a kid."

"Okay, whatever you say." Somaxth smashed his heel in the ground and a large stone flew out of the ground and smashed into Reina's chest.

Reina's teeth clenched and she was smashed hard in the side by back of the scythe. She flew to the ground and Vince waved at Somaxth from the top of the boulder.

The Heartless looked over to where Vince was. He was gone. He looked back up at Vince. "What the hell?" Vince floated to the ground slowly and landed on top of Reina.

"That was fun. We should do that again." He poked the back of her head with the butt of his scythe. "So, Reina. How does it feel for the prey to take down the hunter, and to be the hunter that's taken down?"

Reina threw Vince off her back and stood up. Her hair was messy and her mask was cracked and chips had fallen off, completely revealing her blue left eye.

"You little bastards." She whispered.

Somaxth shivered. _Is it getting colder out here?_

He saw little plumes of white come out of his nostrils and looked around. The grass was becoming coated with frost. He ran up to Vince and pulled him away. A fine mist covered a small area around Reina, there was a loud _crack_ and the mist disappeared, everything on the ground was frozen in ice. A frozen bird fell to the ground and shattered. Reina stepped forwards.

"Heheh... Do you think you can win? I can just freeze you all in place!"

Somaxth stomped his foot into the ground and stones shot up around Reina, trapping her in a dome of rock. Vince drew his handguns and pointed them at the stones. "She's going to break out soon. Are you going to cause a cave-in?"

Somaxth shook his head and grinned. "Nope, we can just wait for her to hop out. You shoot her a couple of times in the head, and we go on our merry way."

Thick barbs of ice shot out of the dome and the rock was sent flying everywhere. Vince immediately started firing where Reina was. After a few seconds, the Nobody fell over.

Vince and Somaxth ran up and watched Reina lie on the ground, looking up at the sky. "Oh well, it's been a slice." Vince looked down at her head. Her mask was gone, but there weren't any holes in her head from the bullets.

He pointed the gun at her head. "It has indeed been a slice. Now then, seeya." He pulled the trigger, but all he heard was a_ click_. He saw the barrel of the gun fall to the ground and noticed a shadow looming behind him. He turned around and stumbled back over Reina. "Oh SHIT!"

Superior threw Somaxth's unconscious body aside and bent down to pick Vince up by the throat. "I will teach you the price for betraying us."

He felt something cold prick the back of his neck and he flinched. He dropped Vince and turned around. Venxik grinned at him, crimson eyes narrowed. "And I'll teach you the price for meddling in our affairs."

* * *

Kevin jumped out of the Gummi Ship. Dyme was way better at flying the thing than he was. Landing was also great and didn't involve as much injury.

Kevin looked around. There was floating crystal everywhere. Even the ground he was on was crystal. There were eerie red and blue lights illuminating the crystal.

"So, this is the Netherworld..." Kevin said. Dyme, Tahlia, Xunahs and Lochit walked up to him. "Wow, this place is so weird." Tahlia whispered.

"So, are we going to get pounced on by demons or something?" Lochit asked. She summoned her ice rapier. "It doesn't matter, I'll kick all of their asses."

Kevin sighed. "Yeah, whatever. But Adell and Rozalin's memories of where they lived were different. I don't think we are close to them at all."

He walked up the stairs and looked up at a large, yellow double door. He ran up towards it, the other four were close behind. They froze in their tracks as a strong force gripped at their heads.

"Oh my head! What's happening?" Kevin cried. He groaned and felt a weird tugging sensation on his ears and there was a flash of light. When the light cleared, so did the pain in his head. He stood up and blinked.

"That was weird... I was expecting for some monumental change... I only feel a slight... draft..." He looked down, expecting the worst, but only saw that his shirt was gone and his jacket had taken on a much different look. The collar of his jacket had grown up and stretched outward like two spikes and his hood dragged down behind him like a small cape. Other than that, nothing spectacular changed about him.

He turned around and saw everyone else. The first thing he noticed was their ears. They were all pointed.

Tahlia had two horns poking out from her hair, as well as a yellow tail. Nothing was different about her clothing. Xunahs was shirtless, his body was covered in dark purple scales and his jeans were torn. Lochit was wearing a white battle suit that had gone overkill on pockets and zippers. Her curly hair was tied back in a ponytail. Dyme was wearing an opened Organization XIII cloak that revealed his bare chest.

Everyone shared elf-like ears and eyes that were red to varying degrees.

"Guys, are we all good?" Kevin asked.

Everyone looked around for a moment. Xunahs and Dyme immediately tried to cover up their exposed torsos, Dyme succeeded and Xunahs looked around frantically for something to wear.

"Do you guys have anything?" He asked. Kevin sighed. "Xunahs, it's not important. We need to go. At least the scales aren't making you itchy." He watched with amusement as Xunahs began to scratch all over his body with clawed fingers. "Yes they are!" He whined.

A wave of darkness washed over everyone and they looked up to see a tall, old man with blond hair standing in front of the door. His skin was grey and his eyes were black with red pupils. "Who are you and what are you doing on my front steps?" He asked.

He walked down the stairs and held his hand out. A ball of darkness began to form in it. Everyone summoned his or her weapons and he looked at Vortex, which was sitting in Kevin's grip with some interest. "The Keyblade? I see. If that's the case..." He shot the ball into the middle of the group. A hole opened up and they all were sucked through. "Have fun, wherever you end up."

* * *

"Oh Prince, you're awake!" Etna quickly hid the gun behind her. Laharl, the demon prince sat up inside his coffin. "Etna, why did you have a gun pointed at me?"

"Oh, uh… I was trying to wake you up!"

* * *

Kevin groaned and sat up. He looked around and saw coal basins lining a deep pit that stretched across the throne room he was sitting in. One either side of the path, the pit lead down towards a lot of fire. At the end of the room was a ridiculously tall stone throne. He got up and looked around. Behind them were three demons. A red dragon, a white cloud-thing and a manticore.

"Uh, hello everyone… You wouldn't mind telling me where we are, would you?"

The dragon let out some sort of deep, squealing noise and grabbed Xunahs in a hug. Xunahs sighed as he was ruthlessly swung around and the dragon put him down.

"Sorry, when I see something as cute as that, I hug it." The dragon said, it turned its head away, obviously embarrassed.

Kevin looked at the dizzy Xunahs, and looked back at the dragon. "My brother is most definitely not cute."

Tahlia let out a low growl. "That's up for suggestion." Kevin, Xunahs and Lochit looked at her with stunned expressions and Tahlia giggled.

"Wait a second, your brother is that cutie?" The dragon asked. Kevin nodded. "Yeah, up until two minutes ago, we were all humans… Well, kinda. Tahlia and myself were Nobodys, but it's not that big. We still are…. I sigh now. What exactly are we?"

"Demons, from the looks of it." The cloud-thing said.

"Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Draati, the manticore is Manty and the golem is Goleck. Our friend, Etna went to wake up our prince, Laharl. This is his second longest nap yet."

Kevin held his hand out for Draati, who shook it awkwardly with her own draconic hand. "My name is Kevin, that's Xunahs, Tahlia, Lochit and Dyme. This old man attacked us. He opened a hole or something and we fell through it. I remember seeing a lot of grey and clocks."

Draati nodded. She looked over at Goleck and Manty. "Mind if I eat you, Kevin? I haven't had a meal in a long time." Kevin paled and stepped back. "What? Eat me?"

"Yes yes, just take off those pesky clothes and hop into a pot of boiling water. Please?"

"Draati, stop tormenting the newbies!" Everyone turned to face the source of the voice. It was a young girl that was barely wearing anything. Just a bit of black leather. Her red hair was tied up in the back of her head. "The prince is up! And what a good idea for you guys to find him new vassals so early in the game!"

"Game?" Kevin asked.

The girl covered her mouth. "Crap! Woops. Sorry, I forgot, we're payed to be inconspicuous about that! We aren't allowed to break the fourth wall, just in case outsiders learn there is a fourth wall!"

Kevin's eye twitched. "You're crazy. What the heck are you talking about?"

The girl waved her arms frantically. "Laharl, come quick! We have an outsider!"

A young boy stepped out from the room the girl came from. His hair was blue and had large antennae coming from it. He had no shirt, a very torn up cape and extremely short shorts.

He looked over at the assembled half-demon, half-humans/Nobodys and said, "These are vassals? They aren't even worthy of doing Prinny work!" He shouted.

Kevin sighed. "A Prinny? What's that?"

As if to answer his question, a lone, blue penguin with peg legs walked out of the room. It walked over to the throne and stood in front of it. "Grune the Prinny, dood!" It saluted and Etna ran to it. She picked it up and grinned at Kevin.

"Hey, prince. How much do you want to bet that I can hit that dragon kid square in the face with the Prinny?"

"Five thousand HL." He replied.

Etna grinned. "It's your money, prince!" She threw the Prinny at Xunahs and it smacked him hard in the head. Xunahs was knocked over backwards and the Prinny floated up into the air. The three demons that had greeted Kevin looked up at the Prinny as it began to fall and ran away screaming.

Kevin looked at them in confusion and watched the Prinny collide with the ground. The second its head made contact with the ground, the Prinny exploded and the group cringed as the searing flames from the explosion surrounded them, but nothing else had happened to them besides feeling weakened and a bit light headed.

"So… Prinnies explode when thrown. Okay, I'll keep that memorized."

* * *

Author's Note: Muugh... This was a painful chapter for me.


	5. Demon Talk

Author's Note: This has taught Kevin (me) that canon is a terrifying thing to work with, or at least the Kingdom Hearts canon crap. It's extremely hard to do when you lack the bonus of having made the characters you are putting into awkward situations and other fun stuff. I played the games through and through, and I still have no idea how to get Sora and co. to work as proper characters. Which is really the only reason Kevin is the main character of the story.

* * *

Chapter Five: Demon Talk

"What are you talking about? I am not doing your chores; I am a man of science, not your nanny!"

"Do you think I care, Dennis? I am your physical superior in every way. I have you to thank for that."

"Grehy! I am your superior in rank; you will do as I say!"

"One position is meaningless to me. Either you clean up my stuff, or I kick your ass."

"Either you do as I say, or I delete you." The white gloves on his hands glowed green. Grehy stood up and a large spiked ball attached to a chain appeared in his hands. His skin turned black. "Go on, I dare you."

"Enough of this!" Dennis and Grehy dismissed their weapons and immediately went stiff with fear. "Sorry sir." They said.

"Of course you are. I bet you're sorry that you got caught. I don't want having people die while Reina and Superior are away. Understand?"

"Yes Gretchen. I'm sorry." Dennis kicked at the ground and the woman sighed and ran her hand through her long, black hair. "Listen to me, you urchin, you're here only because I was able to put in a word to the big man. I can easily have both of you removed. He doesn't mind if I decide to take your lives myself."

_Gretchen was a tall woman. Her hair was long and black and part of it covered her left eye. She wore a black one piece. The bottom half of the suit was cut along the sides. Although she wasn't muscular in any aspect of the term, she was a formidable sorceress and had several spells ready to be used at a moments notice for killing her targets, whether it's a fast and relatively painless death, or a slow and brutal death. She was third in command because of her abilities, and wasn't made second in command for the very same reason._

_When she was a human, Gretchen was powerful in the business world, and took the whole "Don't take no for an answer" mantra to a whole new level. If her clients denied her offers, they would 'disappear'. If anything, the loss of her heart only strengthened the way she acted to the denial of her requests. Luckily for her superiors, she didn't ask for a position as high as second in command, She had to draw a line somewhere, and trying to boot out the bosses powerful girlfriend that would make mincemeat out of her is a stupid choice._

"Ma'am?" Gretchen looked up. "Yes, Dennis, what do you want?"

Did I forget to mention that she has a vanity issue?

* * *

"Your affairs? From what I've seen, these are the affairs of our own people."

Venxik smiled at him. "They are, aren't they? Well, you see... I guess I just want to get back at you for dealing with the traitors. Now then, step aside and let me be the asshole hero before I change my mind and go all sorts of crazy on you."

Darkness exploded around Superior's fists. "Do you really think you scare me, Venxik? Your outdated _cleansing_ powers are useless against me. Your strength is pitiful. I will take you down and claim my place as rightful king of the universe."

Venxik tightened his grip on Interfecit and said, "Crazy it is." He vanished and reappeared behind Superior. He swung the sword at the back of the Nobody's head. Superior spun around and grabbed it with his hand. He threw the sword away and punched Venxik hard in the chest.

"Venxik, like I said: you are outdated."

Venxik got up and brushed his shirt with his hands. "And like I have yet to say: no big deal, I don't care. Now then, let's act a bit more serious. Okay?"

He dashed at Superior and swung Interfecit at his head once again. Superior ducked and was about to grab Venxik when the Heartless' heel smashed into the back of his head. Venxik stabbed Superior through the spine and grinned as the Nobody faded.

"That was too easy."

Several copies of Superior appeared around him and Venxik grinned. "I knew it was too easy." Several Venxik copies appeared around Venxik. "Okay guys, the plan is simple: Take him down."

He jumped into the air, opened his wings and flew higher into the air before getting smacked in the back by a blast of energy. Venxik spiralled down towards the ground and vanished among the group of copies and reappeared behind Superior. He swung Interfecit at the Nobody's head, but was stopped midswing by an invisible force. Suddenly, the air around Venxik began to thin and spots began to cloud the Heartless' vision. He glared at the Nobody and said, "What are you doing? Let me get out so I can rip you to shreds!"

He let out an amused grunt and a sphere of energy trapped Venxik in place. He was lifted higher into the air and the Nobody grinned up at him. "Even if I did let you get out, you wouldn't stand a chance. Now, Venxik, give us your heart."

The Heartless cried out in pain as he felt his strength being sucked away. Everything began fading out and the last thing Venxik remembered hearing was a cackle.

Superior raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What's this?"

The sphere trapping Venxik broke and the body disappeared. Suddenly, Superior was thrown the long distance to the ground and was pinned in place by a black, scaly hand.

"Let's get the real party started." The creature that was Venxik leaned its scale-covered head in and licked the air in front of his face with a serpentine tongue.

He pulled back his left arm, ready to impale Superior's throat with one if its clawed hands when it reeled back, screaming in a mix of fury and pain.

_You're powerful. I could use you._

"What? You fool! I am no mere tool!"

_Says you._

He clawed at the air, as if grappling with an invisible foe. The scales vanished and Venxik stood in the place of the creature that had attacked. He rolled his shoulders and stretched. "Oh boy, that was a workout. So, do we want to continue?"

Superior glowered at him through his broken mask. "Who are you? _What_ are you?"

"The Heartless of a sixteen year old punk. As for your identity…" He vanished and reappeared in front of Superior. He ripped the mask off of his face and crushed it in his hands. He studied the face for a moment and grinned contentedly. "I totally saw that coming."

Superior clenched his teeth and threw a punch at Venxik. The Heartless caught the fist in a scale-covered hand. If Superior had a heart, it would have stopped. Venxik grinned down at him. His eyes changed in appearance. They were red, but with gold streaks. "As for _what_ I am… I'd say I'm your murderer, but that'd make me sound like a petty criminal. And I'm much more than that. So, for appearances sake, I'd say I am your killer." He crushed Superior's hand and punched him hard in the gut with his free hand.

"And you are dead." Venxik twisted around and watched Reina fly towards him, holding a glowing spear ready to bury in Venxik. The Heartless opened his mouth and a stream of fire blasted out of it and completely vaporised the spear. Reina got out of the way and rolled across the ground.

_He's completely changed._

"Reina, retreat this instant!" Superior shouted at her.

"But, what about you and Vince?"

"Leave us here. I can handle myself and I will take care of Vince when this is over! Now go!"

Reina nodded and opened a portal. She staggered through it and Venxik returned his haunting eyes back to Superior. "You know, that could be considered pedophilia."

The Nobody grinned up at him. "Oh? She may look like she hasn't even graduated from high school, but she is older than you think. Magic is a valuable tool."

"Plastic surgery works just as well." Venxik replied.

* * *

"To Twilight Town!" Tom shouted. Everyone looked at him.

"Uh, why there?" Riku asked. Tom sighed and said, "Because when I met Hayner, Pence and Olette, Kevin told them about you having lost your hearts. Not only that, but I got to fight them when they lost their hearts and tried to kill me. If anything, it's to see if they're okay."

"D'ya think we should tell them about Kairi?" Goofy asked.

Everyone looked at him and thought about it for a second.

"They'll worry." Tom said, "It isn't a good idea."

"Yeah, but they are her friends too. They will figure out one way or another." Sora replied. Donald and Goofy nodded.

Riku just sat and watched the two argue and said, "You guys figure it out. If you don't come up with an idea before we get there, I'll tell them she's pregnant with your son, Sora."

"Why don't we just avoid them? Now that I think about it, going up to say 'hi guys!' to them might not be such a good idea. Why don't we check out the mansion instead?"

Riku looked over at Tom and asked, "How come?"

Tom sighed. "Last time we went out to find Venxik at a world made of darkness, we ran into Raynx, and there were no signs of Venxik. From what Kevin's told me from Sora's stories, the mansion in Twilight Town links up with the World That Never Was. So why not go there and look, just to make sure?"

"But, Xemnas ripped apart that world while he was trying to kill us."

"Still, let's just check. If there is no World That Never Was, we will just continue on our merry way."

Riku sighed and looked over at Sora. "What does our fearless leader say?"

Sora looked out the gummi ship window and said, "We should go look. If we can find Venxik's stronghold, there's a chance Kairi is there too. We need to find her before it's too late."

* * *

"Oh! Reina, you're back!" Gretchen jumped out of the throne and walked up to greet her superior. Reina walked past her and went up to the monitor that displayed the Dark Court's, as well as Kevin's and Sora's own separate groups. She turned around to face Gretchen. "Where's the visual on Kevin's group?"

"I don't know. It went out about five minutes ago, where's the boss?"

Reina clenched her fists. She muttered something and Gretchen raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"He's fighting Venxik, and getting his ass kicked."

"What? How?"

"The last I saw, he was getting his fist cooked and crushed by Venxik, he won't last ten minutes by himself."

* * *

Venxik grinned down at Superior. "How does it feel, do be burnt alive?"

"No clue, Venxik. Why don't you tell me how it feels, yourself. I'm sure that black stuff flowing all around you isn't your garden variety dark aura that seems to be a popular trait for most evil men when they are 'getting serious'."

"Yeah, it does smart something fierce. But hey, if I can kill you now, the painfulness of it all should go away." Betrayal appeared in Venxik's free hand and both combatants looked at the Keyblade with stunned expressions.

"Say what now?"

Venxik dropped Superior and he summoned Interfecit, which appeared in his left hand. "Well, this is just nifty. We have two swords, one evil overlord, one evil overlord wannabe and a whole lot of urge to kill someone."

Superior threw his head back and started laughing. "You think you have me?" He looked back up at Venxik. "Don't kid yourself. Venxik, you are years away from besting me. Even with that… Whatever it is living inside of you. All that little demon means is that we need to further our research."

"Pretty tough words coming from a corpse." Venxik said.

"I agree, corpse." Superior replied, scowling at him.

Venxik's head bobbed as something collided with the back of his neck. He let go of Superior and stood up. He turned around to face the Superior clone that stood in front of him. The real Superior stood up and grabbed Venxik's arms. He held a knife to the Heartless' throat and said, "That's it, Venxik. Endgame."

"Oh come now, petty assassination attempts?" Venxik drawled. He vanished from Superior's grasp and reappeared behind him. He smashed the heel of his left foot in Superior's back and forced him to the ground once more.

_He's toying with me. Damn, what happened to him? He was going to die only a few seconds ago, and now's he's completely changed!_

He got up slowly. Venxik aimed a kick for his ribs, but Superior grabbed his scale-covered foot and threw him away. A single sharp blade protruded from his arm and he ran at Venxik, full speed. Venxik barely had time to get up before he was run through with the sword. He let out a choked gurgling sound and tried to get the blade out from him. Finally, his body went limp and Venxik disappeared.

* * *

Kevin stepped through the gate and noticed the patch of grass he was standing on was blue. "Well… What the hell?"

Etna walked past him, twirling a spear around in her hand lazily. "Wow, you really are an outsider. You're standing on a geo panel. They're little squares of magic that have different effects on the people that stand on them. This one that you're on increases your defense."

"…What? It sounds like I'm in some sort of Role-playing Game."

Dyme, who was standing on a red geo panel said, "I suddenly feel rich!" Xunahs stood away from everyone on a normal, unchanged patch of grass. Tahlia stood on a large rock that was coloured blue, and Lochit was on a red patch of dirt.

Suddenly, a strange creature that had a white body and a green coat appeared in front of Kevin and smacked him hard with a spike that protruded from its head. Kevin jumped back and saw a small 4 float up above him. "What the heck?" The creature stopped moving, as if patiently waiting for Kevin to react.

"That's a demon. A ghost to be exact, fun-loving little brats. I hate them." Etna chucked her spear at its head and the ghost vanished.

Laharl stepped out of the glowing blue base panel and a mischievous grin crossed over Etna's lips. "Oh, and one more thing." She picked up Laharl. "You can throw people. HEEEYAH!" She tossed the prince over to a group of ghosts that quickly swarmed him.

Kevin looked at everyone around him and saw four little numbers float away from Laharl. He stood there, with several cuts and bruises. "I'll kill you." He growled at Etna.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm a story character; you can't do squat to me. Haha."

Everyone grouped together. Laharl was still glaring daggers at Etna. "Hey, prince. I think we should test the newbies." Laharl's anger was washed away. "Good idea, Etna. We can get them to do all the grunt work for us."

Kevin broke away from the huddle. "We are right here, guys."

Etna looked up at him. "Yeah, so? You're his vassals, he could call your mothers hookers, and you wouldn't be able to lift a finger."

"They can be the Prinnies' vassals! I need more of them anyways." Etna looked pleadingly at Laharl. "Please…"

Laharl thought about it for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, sure." Etna let out a loud whoop and a megaphone appeared out of nowhere. She held it up to her mouth and shouted, "Okay guys, get going!" Kevin, Xunahs, Tahlia, Lochit and Dyme didn't move, looking very confused. Etna held the megaphone up to Kevin's head and screamed, "THAT MEANS YOU!"

Kevin ripped the megaphone out of her hands and threw it at a prinny that was hiding behind them.

Laharl started laughing and Etna looked at Kevin in shock. Her shock was wiped away and she grinned evilly at him. "This means extra chores, buddy. Hop to it before I make the extra become one thousand fold instead!"

Kevin slumped his shoulders and sighed. He looked over at the ghosts, which were clustered all in one group. He summoned Vortex and raised it in the air. "THUNDER!"

Several bolts of lightning fell through the sky and destroyed a ghost and slightly charred the grass on the one geo panel. Lochit fired an icicle at another ghost, Tahlia threw kunai, Dyme blasted another away with a pillar of water and Xunahs shredded one to pieces with his claws.

After the battle had concluded, Kevin returned to the castle with Laharl and Etna. They walked up to a busty woman with short cut hair. "Welcome to the Dark Records, Prince Laharl. What do you need?"

"Can you quickly get a bio read on these guys?" He pointed at the five behind him and Etna.

She nodded and stepped away from the iron cage she was standing in front of. "Of course, your Majesty. Please, step in."

Kevin stepped up first and a blue light washed over him.

Kevin looked around. "Okay, that was fun and all. But what was that about?"

Etna smiled at him. "What that was, was you being registered as actual characters. We can't have you guys breaking stuff because the laws don't apply to you. So, now that we know what you guys are good with, let's go to the shop and buy crap."

* * *

Author's Note: Well, yes. I am going to have fun doing the Disgaea world. Seriously, I nearly live and breathe this game (lies), it's a fun game and my humor will fit in perfectly with this crowd of demons. Things you can expect for Disgaea world: Crazed love maniacs, seeing the stats of enemies, fourth wall (what fourth wall?) getting raped and so much more.

I revamped chapter five, and sorry about forgetting last week. I had stuff to deal with then. And, uh... Perhaps I'll update next Thursday... You never know, with this evil worm that's supposed to detonate and wipe out the internet set to go nuts on the first, I may not be able to update and bad things will happen. *sarcasm*


	6. Hope

Chapter Six: Hope

* * *

Somaxth groaned and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He watched Venxik fade away with a mix of horror and disbelief. He snapped out of it and quickly grabbed Vince by the shoulder. "Run, now." He hissed into the Nobody's ear.

"Why are you helping me?" Vince asked in frustration.

"Because, you are hurt, it would be dishonourable to take advantage of the weak. Reina was dishonourable, so I had to show her how to be a good person. If it were under other circumstances, I would have killed you on the spot."

Somaxth threw Vince through a portal and brought a wall of rocks up around him. _Bring it, you heart-lacking bastard._

Superior turned to face him, gave a faint smile and vanished from sight. Somaxth spun around and swung the mass of rocks like a giant hand, tearing up the earth as it moved along. There was a _crack_ as something that was hidden was smacked and Superior was sent flying.

_He went invisible? How?_

Superior vanished again and Somaxth spun around and punched the Nobody in the face before he could get stabbed by the glowing blade.

"How the hell are you able to keep going?" Somaxth asked, looking at Superior's mangled left arm that had been crushed by the wall of stone. Now Superior's nose was bent at an odd angle and bleeding profusely.

"I am a god... I won't die..." He wheezed. He vanished again and Somaxth got ready to spin around to hit him, but the Nobody reappeared in front of him and thrust the blade at his chest.

* * *

Ashlee opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around and saw that she was in a jail of some sort. There was darkness all around her, covering the walls and the bars of the cell. Or did they make up the cell itself?

She saw a girl sitting against a wall, furiously scribbling something in a notebook. Ashlee realized it was Kairi. What was she doing here?

"Kairi?" She stepped towards the girl and looked at the notebook. There was a lot of words. Like a story or something was being written. Kairi immediately snapped the book shut and looked up at Ashlee. "Oh, you're up! Sorry, I like to write a bit. I have issues with people seeing my work before it's finished." She got up and hugged Ashlee.

"So, what are you in for?" Ashlee asked, smirking at her.

"Possession."

"Oh my, of what?"

"A boy's heart."

"That's a serious crime."

"Isn't it?"

They grinned and watched a group of Shadows walk by. Ashlee watched their rear ends bounce as they "ran" by and said, "Y'know what? When they aren't trying to kill you, they are sickeningly cute."

Kairi sighed. "They _are _cute and that's it. Sora as a Shadow is sickeningly cute."

Ashlee laughed. "I have no clue how he would look as a Shadow, I'd think that Sora would look exactly the same as any other Shadow... but, whatever floats your boat is fine."

* * *

"Etna, how old are you?" Kevin asked.

"1470. Why?"

"Really? That's amazing! You don't look a day over ten thousand!"

He was smacked hard. Across the back of his head. With a spear.

* * *

"You know what Kairi? They won't be able to do anything without us. And I can only assume that it's going to be boring, sitting here…" She stood up and summoned Corona. "Want to pass time?"

Kairi stood up and summoned True Heart (A/N: Kairi's Keyblade, thanks kirin)"I can't really fight though…"

"Why not? Didn't Sora and Riku help you out with that?"

Kairi looked away sheepishly. "Not really, all I did was watch, and when we got back, it was in the middle of the school year. I had no time to practice with them."

"Well, consider me your mentor!" Ashlee said, grinning at her.

"What?" Kairi looked up at her with a shocked expression. "Well, the guys are useless without us. So, why not get stronger and bust ourselves out?" Ashlee suggested.

Kairi giggled. "Sounds like a good idea."

Ashlee crouched and said, "Show me what you got!"

* * *

"Oh God... The pain, it's everywhere." Kevin groaned as he was dragged through the castle hall to the hospital. He would remember not to make cracks at Etna's age.

Everyone, even Laharl stood clear of Etna as she stomped down the hall. It took the combined efforts of everyone present to hold her off and to keep her from finishing the job.

"It serves you right for making fun of the crazy demon girl with a spear." Dyme hissed as he helped Xunahs drag Kevin along. "But you gotta admit, that was pretty awesome. I thought I would have died laughing." Lochit whispered. Tahlia nodded in agreement.

"It's funny though. She has such a flat chest, and she's over a thousand years old!" Kevin said. Etna stopped walking and the castle went deathly silent.

Laharl's two blue hair-antennae stood up on end and he slowly stepped backwards, looking absolutely horrified. Everyone followed his lead, leaving the immobile Kevin behind. "What did you say...?" Etna said, smiling evilly as she twisted a knife around in her fingers.

"Uh, that your body is more beautiful than the most glorious beauty queen in the universe?"

Etna paused mid-step and looked down thoughtfully at Kevin, who was struggling to move backwards. She turned around and said, "Meh." She flicked her wrist and the knife flew at Kevin and planted itself in the stone ground next to his head. Kevin let out a wheezy cackle and let his head fall backwards. His head smacked against the ground. "Oww…"

They finally arrived at the hospital and dumped Kevin on a cot. The woman in charge took him in, there was a loud ringing noise and Kevin came back out with every scar, bruise and cut on his body being completely removed.

"Three hundred HL, please."

Laharl handed her the money and scowled at Kevin. "It's coming out of _your_ paycheck."

"Paycheck? I get a paycheck?"

"Well yeah! You work for _me_, so you get paid!" Laharl said. Etna smiled sweetly at him. "Yeah, and because of that 300 HL, you are going to be here for a loooong time to give him back that money. How much do they get again?"

"One HL a year."

"So... You're telling me I will be working for you for... Three hundred years at least?" Kevin asked, a bit annoyed.

"Or less, actually." Etna said. "The castle is a very dangerous place. One of the prinnies was eaten alive when he was doing laundry."

"By what?"

"Kraken."

"Pfft. That's stupid; there is no way a kraken could live in this place! This is a castle that sits on a lava lake." Kevin said.

"Well, it isn't alive anymore; the Overlord took care of it!" Etna replied.

"Well, that only proves the BS in the story!" Kevin and Etna glared at each other, the little sparks of electricity could almost be seen shooting between their eyes.

Laharl dived at the two and punched Kevin in the face. "Stop ignoring me! I will _not _be a third wheel!"

Dyme looked around thoughtfully, taking in the sights of the castle. Tahlia followed his eyes and finally asked, "What are you looking for?"

Dyme snapped out of it and grinned sheepishly at her. "Oh, nothing! I was just thinking."

"About...?"

"Nothing."

"You were a part of Organization XIII. Were you here before?" Tahlia asked.

Dyme nodded. "Yeah, this place is giving me the chills. Like déjà vu. Laharl and Etna fighting seems familiar to me, like I saw them at it before. Which is weird, because I came here on a mission with Xaldin three years ago." Suddenly, something in his mind snapped and he jogged over to the brawlers. He got them wet with a large bubble of water and when they were done coughing and spluttering, he asked, "Hey, Laharl, Etna, do either of you know what year it is?"

Laharl glared up at him. "Don't ask me, I've been asleep for two years!" Etna was going to say something, but Dyme stopped her. He stumbled backwards and tripped over Tahlia. He looked up at the ceiling and said, "Two year nap? No way, that's impossible..."

Lochit helped him up to his feet. "What's impossible?"

"Well, it looks like we're about three years in the past is what's impossible."

* * *

Sora tapped the door experimentally with his foot and was flung back by a pulse of energy. He tumbled backwards through the grass and groaned as he was helped up by Donald and Goofy. He sighed and walked back up to the barrier and asked Riku, "Do you think using the Keyblade'll help?"

Riku shrugged his shoulders in response and said, "It's worth a shot. You want to try it, or should I?"

The four people present jumped as there was a loud crashing noise and all looked at Tom, who was standing next to a gaping hole in the mansion wall. "What? I figured that it would be easier to work around the barrier by dismantling the _stone_ wall with my powers. Outside of the box thinking is good for you." He stepped over the rubble and waved for the others to follow him through; everyone exchanged a nervous glance and followed the Nobody through the hole in the wall.

"This place has been totally cleaned up!" Sora whispered, ignoring the new renovation made to the wall behind him. Nonetheless, it was true; everything that had been broken before looked brand new now, even the table that had been split in half in one of the rooms was fixed and looking like it was freshly made. There wasn't dust everywhere and the walls all had a fresh coat of paint.

"Well, it's obvious that someone has been living here." Riku said, peering through the clear window that stood between the stairs. There was a garden with freshly bloomed flowers.

A door shut upstairs and slow, quiet footsteps came along the hall. An old woman, whose gray hair was tied up in a bun walked down the stairs, her white slippers occasionally poked out from under her white night dress. "Excuse me, may I help you?" She asked kindly.

Donald squacked and dropped the vase he was examining and cried, "No ma'am! Sorry, we didn't think someone was living here anymore."

"Oh my, is that it? Are you looking for someone?" She asked.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, my friend. She's a girl that's about my age and height, she has long, straight, auburn hair. Did you see her come through here, accompanied by a younger girl?"

The woman shook her head sadly. "No, I haven't had many visitors during my fifty years here."

A silence filled the room. "Fifty years?" Riku asked. The woman nodded. "Yes, fifty years. My husband Roy had this mansion built for me when we were married. Oh he was such a beautiful young man."

Sora started to back away. "I'm sorry that we took up your time, ma'am. If you find our friend, please let us know." The old woman smiled sweetly at him. "I will be sure to do just that." She looked up at an antique clock that stood at the top of the stairs. "Oh my! It's getting late, where did you children say you lived again?"

"Just past the woods. Why?" Goofy replied, receiving annoyed looks from everyone else.

"Oh no, it is far too dangerous for you to go there this late. Dark creatures are lurking around these parts at night. Please spend the night in the mansion. I insist!"

"We really need to get going, our friends are in danger!" Riku said. The old woman's sweet smile never left her face. "No, I'm terribly sorry, but you must stay. These creatures are vile, terrifying things. Even the Heartless would be terrified of them."

Sora looked confused. "The Heartless?" He asked. "You know about them?"

The old woman nodded. "Yes, actually, Roy was one of them. We were married as human and Heartless. The people thought it was strange at first, but they grew accustomed to him and liked his company very much. Tell me, do any of you like reading?"

Tom nodded. "Yeah, my friend Kevin does."

"Good good, come with me then! Roy brought me many books during his adventures to different worlds. I am sure one would catch yours and your friend's fancy." She walked up the stairs and the teens all looked at each other, exchanged shrugs and followed her to the library.

"Tom, what were you thinking?" Riku whispered to him.

"Just playing along. Something like this happened before with Lochit and me when we were travelling with Rould. She's a spirit of some old lady that is stuck here. Maybe if we give her company, she can pass on peacefully."

"But, the house was obliterated, how could it look like this now?" Riku asked.

"No idea, maybe her memories influenced the appearance of this place. Her spirit is connected, so she might have some sort of influence on the environment of the mansion."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I don't, it's just an educated guess based on what I've seen when I was with Lochit."

"Excuse me, ma'am." "Oh please, call me Lilian." "Okay, Lilian, what's this book?" Donald handed her a black, leather-bound book that had a silver clasp holding it shut. She stroked the spine gingerly. "This, young man is the Book of the Dead."

Tom looked away from Riku and over to Lilian. "Excuse me?" He walked over to look at the book. "Did you say 'Book of the Dead'?"

"Why yes young man, I did. It's a tool of necromancers and the mighty Abhorsen alike. Roy found it for me and I have ever since kept it hidden in my library. I also have this that came from the same world. It is basic instructions on how to use Charter Magic. I am sorry to say that using such magic on this world is simply impossible. The wizard that lives here has made it impossible to use magic from foreign worlds, for fear of damage to the world itself."

"I see. What other books do you have on this subject?" Tom asked, peering at the numerous volumes. "Are you interested in magic as well?" Lilian asked. Tom shook his head and said, "No. My friends Kevin and Ashlee are. they like reading books on magic and testing some of the things they read in sparring matches."

"I would like to meet these two." She said thoughtfully.

"He's travelling too, trying to find our missing friend, as well as Ashlee, who is missing."

"Well, I wish him the best of luck!" Lilian said. She plucked more books off the shelves and handed them to Tom. "You can take those to your young friends when you see them again." She said, placing her hands on her aged hips as if she were proud of what she had done.

Tom peered above the pile of heavy books and said, "I'm sorry, but these are far too heavy for me to carry, and we have no room for them on us."

She smiled at him with the cavity causing smile and said, "You're right. I will get a special bag to help carry those."

She turned around to the drawer in the far corner of the library and shuffled through the drawers while the others looked at the books around them in the shelves.

After a couple of minutes, the drawer slammed shut and the woman brought a leather pouch that was about as large as a human hand and opened it up and held it in front of him. "Just put your books in this little hollow Roy brought home on his first expedition across the worlds and take it with you. I'm sure you'll have many uses for it, much more than an old lady like myself."

Tom returned her smile and said, "Thank you very much. My friends'll love this!" He graciously took the bag and put the books in effortlessly. The bag didn't even budge as the thick books were put in. When the books were all in, Tom simply put it inside his pocket and thanked Lilian.

Lilian's body flickered slightly and everyone jumped. "What happened to her?" Sora asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen it before. I know she isn't some illusion, because there is a ghost of a hint of a consciousness in her. Pardon the pun." Tom said.

"Well, what're we gonna do? She won't let us leave!" Donald whispered, trying to pull the doors open. Suddenly, Sora's eyes brightened as if he got a wonderful idea. "I'll be right back."

He walked over to Lilian and asked, "Excuse me Lilian, can you please tell us what happened to your husband, Roy?"

Lilian sighed sadly. "The creatures got him when he was coming home from the town. He tried to fight them off, but he got overpowered and he disappeared. I miss him so much. What I wouldn't give to destroy the monsters that stole my love from me."

She started crying, her ghostly cheeks turning red with tears and Sora patted her shoulder comfortingly, realizing how strange it felt, almost as if it were solid. "Don't worry, Lilian. What if we chased off the creatures for you?"

She looked up into Sora's kind face. She brushed her eyes and whispered, "No. I can't let you children throw away your lives for an old woman."

"Don't worry Lilian, we can handle ourselves." Sora turned around and motioned for the others to follow him. Goofy, Donald and Riku followed, but Tom stayed behind to look at Lilian, who was still watching them, she didn't even bother arguing. She just stood there. The doors to the library slammed shut and Tom spun around and ran to open the doors.

The floor in the middle of the room disappeared to reveal a grey room that was lined with concrete and cables. Lilian walked down the stairs and disappeared in a door that was in the wall. Tom got away from the firmly closed doors and chased her down the stairs.

* * *

Riku turned around just as the door slammed shut. The entire house shook and everyone ran out of the mansion and just as they got outside, the roof collapsed and the door was completely blocked off by old wood. They paused to catch their breath and realized how dark it was Sora looked up and cried, "Guys, look!" Everyone looked up at the sea of stars. "What the heck is happening?" Donald asked.

"We're not in Twilight Town anymore..." Goofy said, stepping back. The mansion behind them had disappeared and was replaced by a large, aging, gothic tower.

"So, Riku... What do you think is happening?" Sora asked. When he got no reply, he looked around. Riku, Goofy and Donald were all gone.

* * *

Tom entered the basement lab and saw the woman sitting at a computer, typing something. "Who are you, really?" He asked. She stood up and turned to face him. "Who am I? I am an old lady, that's who."

"Incorrect. Why are you pretending to be an old woman?"

Her shoulders started shaking and her gown shrank inwards a bit. Her grey hair darkened and fell out of its bun. The gown became a pair of black jeans with a black t-shirt. Purple lines ran down the sides of the outfit and the woman's face became younger and her eyes steadily turned red.

"Well, I guess my masquerade is over. Stupid Charter Skin dying out on me like that. The name's Leashex."

"And my name's Tom. Nice to meet you." Tom bowed and Leashex sighed. "You are a real gentleman there, Tommer. However, I regret to inform you that you aren't leaving here unless you can do one simple thing for me..."

Tom's hand immediately flew to the belt of his pants. "One step ahead of you there, darlin'."

Leashex ground her teeth and summoned Chaos and Anarchy (A/N: it turns out I screwed up and the name for Abyss is actually Anarchy. Go figure). "Wrong move there, buddy."

She lunged at Tom and pinned him to the ground. She shoved Chaos through his pant leg, just barely skimming the inside of his thigh and pinned him to the ground. She raised Anarchy to remove his head. "That will do, Leashex." She looked over to the source of the voice. A young kid, only sixteen by the looks of it stood in the room. He had black, curly hair and looked half-black (A/N: Blame Jasmine for that description, folks).

Tom looked up, grinning at the kid. "Aw Jess, you ruined my fun."

"As much as I would love to see you get killed Nico, I can't let my number one peon die just because he decided to sex some random girl." Jesse replied.

Ashlee looked back down at Nico and noticed his body was swimming with Charter Marks. "A Charter Skin? How the fuck did I miss that?"

Jesse stepped forward and pulled the sword away from Nico with a grunt of effort. He threw it aside and helped the other up. "Simple. I put a barrier around the marks to make them invisible. Not even the most talented Charter Mage would have seen through it."

The marks faded from Nico and he reverted to his normal form. He looked exactly the same as Jesse, except more physically fit and younger by two years. He vanished and Leashex felt something ram into her from the side with the force of a speeding train. She was lifted off the ground and thrown into the wall. She stood up and looked around the room. The Nico kid was gone, what the hell happened?

She was rammed into again, this time from the front and she was smashed against the wall again. She opened her eyes and saw Nico holding her up by her collar. "Yo."

She kicked him in the chest and he was sent flying back. His feet connected with the opposite wall and Leashex sliced Chaos through the air just as Nico disappeared. She felt the sword connect with a solid object and Nico was sent sprawling back and his head smashed on the ground. Jesse looked over at Leashex and over at Nico.

"I see. So, you really are as strong as your rank suggests. Oh yes, those books you gave Nico were given to the real Tom, who was dumped off somewhere. We can't remember. Oh yes. He lacks pants."

"What the hell did that poor kid do to you guys?"

"Oh, we have nothing against him. Nico and I, that is. Superior wants us to humiliate him at every opportunity we can. When we were able to knock him out without the others realizing, we were arguing about the best way to humiliate him. Stripping him was the best thing we could come up with without being found out by the others."

Leashex sighed. "Still, that's just wrong. Did you take pictures too?"

"No, but that would have been an excellent idea."

"Of course, you boys need something to keep yourselves entertained when those lonely nights together become lonely again. Why yes, I did go there." Leashex smirked at him.

Jesse merely shrugged. "Okay, fine. You 'zinged' me. The bottom line still is that you have lost this little confrontation."

He snapped his fingers and shadowy hands exploded from the walls Leashex was standing by and held her in place. A glowing dagger appeared in Jesse's hands and he walked up to Leashex. "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit."

"Oh, but this will." Jesse turned around and was smashed in the head by a flying brick. He fell backwards and smashed his head on the hard ground. His body glowed softly and he stood back up as if nothing had happened. "I see, so we didn't dispose of you as well as we had hoped."

Tom rested his axe on his left shoulder. "Of course not, I can bounce back from anything. Also, I want my jeans back." The ground opened up beneath Tom and he fell into it. He shot out from underneath Jesse, only to meet empty air. Jesse landed on the ground some ten feet away. Something by him blurred and Tom brought up a stone wall in front of him. It was smashed aside as if it was paper and Tom was flung backwards into Leashex.

Tom dropped down from Leashex and apologized for colliding with her. He turned around and threw a punch forwards, smashing Nico in the head. The Nobody was sent flying back and he collided with Jesse. Tom ran forwards and trapped the arms and legs of the two with rocks.

"Are you working for Superior?" Tom asked.

Jesse smirked at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Two spheres of light appeared in each of Jesse's open palms and they exploded. When Tom could see again, the two were gone, as well as Leashex.

* * *

Ashlee was panting heavily; Kairi was easily beating her into a corner. There was no way she told the truth about not being taught by Sora and Riku. Kairi spun around in a circle and smashed True Heart on Corona and the Keyblade was ripped out of Ashlee's grasp.

"Holy shit, Kairi. That is one hell of a swing you got there." Ashlee said, amazed. "Yeah? Ready for round two?" Kairi asked, she bounced on the balls of her feet and Ashlee sighed. "No. You make me feel old. How can you keep on going anyways?"

Kairi stopped and looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "It's because of Sora. The thought that I will be able to see him again once this is all over and finally not have to worry about darkness, Heartless and actually being able to spend time with him and Riku, just like we used to helps give me the desire to continue. I would want to go back to being plain old Kairi more than anything, but I know that can't happen. Why do you keep on going, Ashlee?"

Ashlee crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back against the wall. "I don't know, really. I mean, being a Nobody, I shouldn't technically have any desires, but I still know what I want and what needs to be done. I want to get away from it all and just be alone with—" Kairi looked expectantly down at Ashlee, who looked up at her with a blushing smile.

"...Kevin?" Kairi asked, grinning at her. Ashlee nodded slowly, still blushing. "Yeah, Kevin. And I don't understand why I'm blushing, I shouldn't feel embarrassed, and yet here I am with crimson cheeks and a hot forehead. Man is it ever annoying. I care about him, even though we haven't been together as much as I would have liked, I still feel something for him. I actually do, and I think it's love."

Halixat walked in front of the cell door and said, "Aww... How cute, the Nobody feels love for the man of her dreams? Well, here's something to chew on... No less than an hour ago, we lost sight of both Kevin and Sora, they have been completely wiped out. Have fun, ladies." She walked off, whistling a cheerful tune to herself. Kairi and Ashlee exchanged glances and looked down at the ground.

Ashlee stood up and Kairi followed her with her eyes. "We can't give up yet Kairi. MIA does not mean dead." Kairi stood up and nodded. "You're right. The moment we get out of here, we'll get the others over here. I know exactly where we are." Ashlee held out her hand. "We won't give up, right?" Kairi smiled at Ashlee and took her hand. "Huh? 'Give up?' I have no idea what that means."


	7. Prince of the Netherworld

Before we begin: Sorry for the lack of updates, just had a lot of things to do.

* * *

Chapter Seven: Prince of the Netherworld.

"So, you're telling me that by giving up this stuff called 'mana' that I get from killing enemies, I can make demons that fight alongside me in battles?" Kevin asked.

Plenair, the Dark Assembly guide nodded, the red ribbon tied in her blue hair bounced softly as she did so. "Yes."

Kevin stared at her confusedly, which made her look away and blush. Etna sighed and said, "Don't worry, Plenair. He's a newbie. Can we get things underway?"

Plenair smiled. "Yes, of course. Welcome." The floor below the group of seven opened up and they fell through, the five ex-humans and Nobodys screamed as they plummeted, while Etna and Laharl exchanged smirks.

They landed on a giant pillow and stood up. In front of them was a long line of demons, all of which stood ready, some watching them with interest, others looking like they were praying to be chosen, and the rest simply didn't give a damn.

A scroll of paper materialized in front of all of them and Kevin read everything on it, as did everyone else. "Uh hey, mind telling us what the heck these are?" Xunahs asked.

"They are supposed to tell you what bills you can unlock. Since you guys are minions, you can't do anything besides make your own minions. So just choose who you want. You all have ten mana, I'd just say get one average dude and we can be on our way."

"Why doesn't Harlie get any more speaking roles? He's quiet." Lochit said, glancing at Laharl. "WHAT? HARLIE?! I, THE GREAT PRINCE LAHARL WILL NOT BE GIVEN LOWLY PET NAMES LIKE HARLIE!"

Lochit sighed. "Whatever, take a chill pill. Your spazzing is enough to give me a headache." Xunahs snickered and said, "Well, at least we know he didn't magically become mute."

Kevin looked down the list and saw what he wanted. He pointed at the oddly dressed man that wore a light blue suit with an equally blue cape flapping behind him and said, "You're a masked hero?" The demon nodded vigorously and Kevin grinned. "Sweet, come on over." The demon adjusted his prinny beak-like mask and ran to join Kevin. He said, "Oh, master Kevin, my name is John by the way!" Kevin smiled at him. "Nice to meetcha". The two looked over at Xunahs, who was looking through the crowd.

His eyes rested on the heavy knight and Kevin grinned, remembering when he fought them at Radiant Garden. "Come on over, we won't bite." Xunahs said. Lochit barred her teeth and said, "Much." The heavy knight sighed into the neck of his dark blue coat, which hid the lower part of his face from view. He walked over to stand beside Xunahs. "I am Gustav. Uh… that's about all you need to know."

Lochit pointed at the busty female with short cut hair and said, "I want you over here." The woman nodded and walked elegantly towards Lochit and introduced herself as Freda. Freda cast John a sly grin and he froze to attention and blushed furiously.

Dyme was quick to choose; he looked over at the young girl with blue hair and motioned for her to come over. She skipped over and stood in front of him, gave a curtsey and blew in his face. He looked over at the others, with frost-coated cheeks and said, "Her name is Lucinda, and she's cool." The others groaned at his wide smile and watched a blonde woman that wore a green dress walk up to Tahlia and did a short curtsey. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Claudia."

Tahlia offered her hand, and Claudia took it and they shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Claudia. I'm Tahlia."

The massive pillow under them started shaking violently and was launched into the air by a gigantic spring, the group flew up through the same way they fell and landed neatly in front of Plenair. "Have a nice day." She whispered under her breath. There was a pause, and she bowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kevin didn't bother commenting, nor did any of the others. They all knew deep down that things were nowhere near as weird now as they would be in the near future.

They walked up towards the Dimension Guide and she said, "I have added 'Vyer's Castle' to the list of available areas. It's fairly new, so I do not know much about it. However, it is rumored that a very able man lives there."

"Whatcha gonna do, Prince? Should we take a peak?" Etna asked.

"I say we steal stuff!" Everyone looked at Lochit, who grinned at them all. "Heh, sorry. I am part pirate. Yarr."

Laharl looked up at the Dimension Guide. "Whatever, I'm just going to kill him and make him an example to everyone else that wants to take my position as Overlord!"

Kevin bumped him out of the way and said, "Yeah, yeah. I don't care. Let's just get a move on!" Laharl shoved Kevin through the Dimension gate and everyone else followed behind. They all appeared at a large pair of castle gates and saw several ghosts lined up and down the path to the castle.

Kevin grinned as he summoned Vortex and the others brought out their own weapons. Kevin looked around for the demons he had gotten with his mana and asked, "Where are they?" Etna sighed. "You have to summon them, dummy."

"And how do I do that?"

"Simple, like this: PRINNIES, GET YOUR BUTTS OUT HERE!" A large group, no an army of the little penguins ran up and swarmed Etna. There were several cries of "Dood!" or "Master Etna!" as they all tried to avoid getting trampled by more eager Prinnies. Etna pointed her spear at the castle gates. "CHARGE!" The Prinnies screamed their high pitched battle cries, bobbing blue penguin heads swarmed the ghosts and in seconds, there was nothing left; even the well-built gates were badly damaged.

Kevin let out a low whistle as he saw the aftermath. "Whoa, doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?"

"No time for talking! GO, GO, GOO" Etna ran past Kevin, as did Laharl and any Prinnies that were left behind. The five stood there, watching the small army flood the castle. "I really don't want to run in there. That is a time bomb just waiting to go off." Xunahs said.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, Etna's infuriated screams and the horrified cries of the Prinny army. A second later, a nice section of the castle was blown away, leaving Laharl, Etna and a few pieces of rubble that made up the main hall, all covered in ash and soot.

They ran up to and past Laharl and Etna as they argued. "They get along so well…" Tahlia murmured. Lochit nodded. "PB and J to the max." They stopped when they got through the remains of the once decorated hall and found a wall of blue robe-wearing ghosts blocking their path. More materialized out of the walls and surrounded them.

Everyone summoned their weapons and Kevin crouched. "Oh man, this is going to be great." He tightened his grip on Vortex and sped through a line of the ghosts. They disappeared and Kevin, when he reached the end of his dash, did a back flip over the area he had just covered and landed neatly on his feet.

Tahlia threw her kunai at the ghosts and they quickly began disappearing in groups as Xunahs began copying Kevin's attack while Lochit and Dyme obliterated ghosts with their ice and water attacks.

Soon, the ghosts were finished and Kevin sighed. "This place is just too easy… Seriously, everything here is just… Ugh. Easy."

* * *

"Ow… where am I?" Tom looked around the room with squinted eyes. He saw the outline of a person out of the corner of his eye and watched as she flicked a long syringe with her index finger. He shuddered as she walked towards him. He began struggling to break free from the straps that bound him to the operating table. A cold hand was placed on his chest and the girl said, "Shh Tom, don't worry. It'll be over in a few seconds."

"Halixat?" He croaked. She merely nodded and put the needle in his arm. She pushed down the plunger and the liquid entered his arm. Tom went unconscious again.

"So Halixat, are you sure this plan will work?" The Heartless turned to the owner of the voice and nodded. "Yes, it will. All we need is to open that portal and send him through, while he's there, we can get my servant to fill him full of misleading memories."

"I see… So, was that…"

"No, it wasn't the same as that man's own drugs. No, putting that into a Nobody would have catastrophic effects, or at least that's what Leashex told me. No, this drug will put Tom's memories under lock and key, leaving a lot of blank space for manipulation."

"I see… well then, carry on." He turned around and left the room. Halixat closed her fists tightly around the syringe until it broke in half. "How dare he think he has any power over me?" She hissed. She smiled wryly at Tom's unconscious body. "However… I could use this little plan of ours to my advantage." She put a sticky note on Tom's chest and smirked as she opened a portal and pushed the rolling table through.

* * *

Superior's eyes widened as the glowing blade was ripped from his arm. He cried out as a foot smashed into his side and he was thrown back. Venxik glanced at Somaxth, nodded and flashed from existence. He reappeared in front of Superior and punched him in the face. Before Superior could be flung back, Venxik grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and said, "No one touches my subordinates, got it?"

Superior spat in Venxik's face in response and the Heartless sighed and slammed Superior into the ground. "It looks like your Copyblades have some bugs in them. If they can't permanently execute a Heartless, they are imperfect. I can see why they worked for Reina… Heh, doesn't it suck to know that you can't use those damn things properly?"

He picked up a small pebble from the ground and blew fire onto it until it was red hot. He held it above Superior's right eye; completely ignoring the pain the pebble was giving his own fingers. "So, do you mind going blind in one eye?" Superior struggled and started thrashing under Venxik's grip. The Heartless grinned and licked his lips. "Prey that squirms is always the most entertaining."

Somaxth looked around the rock he was hiding from behind. That voice wasn't Venxik's… It was different, almost maniacal. Venxik released the pebble and watched it fall straight through Superior's head. Venxik got up and the scales disappeared from his body. He looked around and sighed. "Fucking Hell, I am tired of these copies. Listen to me, Superior! If you don't show your face this instant, I will destroy this world and take you with it!"

A sphere of darkness appeared above Venxik and steadily grew larger. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Show's over." He was about to toss the ball at the ground, but his head suddenly felt light. He tottered on the spot and fell over. Somaxth darted out to protect Venxik from any sneak attacks. Venxik was on his knees, clutching at his pant legs, breathing laboriously. "Damn… I'm too tired… Somaxth, we need to go."

Somaxth helped Venxik up onto his feet and walked him through a portal. "What happened there?" He asked. Venxik shook his head. "Not important, I need some rest. Just drop me off in my room."

"Yessir."

"Don't call me 'sir'. Okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

Halixat hoisted Vince onto the table that was next to where Tom's table was. She sighed as her accomplice walked in and said, "You were able to catch him?" He asked.

Halixat grinned and turned to face him. "Ha! Did I catch him? Of course I did, you people are a bunch of windbags… You can't even catch your own people when they're on the run!"

She was thrown against the wall on the far side of the room and she looked down at Nico and grinned. "Oh? So, this is your plan, Jesse? Terminate me? I can handle myself, chump."

A bolt of black lightning struck Nico on the head and he let go of Halixat. She took in a deep breath and stretched out her arms. The room filled with the coppery stench of Free Magic and the shadows coming off of the surgical equipment in the well lit room quivered. Several lanky black creatures similar to Dusks in appearance came from the shadows and surrounded Jesse and Nico. "None of you have any power over me. Feel lucky I decided to go along with your plan and get your stupid experiment underway. If you upset me again, it might end badly for you."

Jesse smiled coolly at her and turned around. "Go ahead, Kill Nico. See if I care." He disappeared and the creatures advanced on the Nobody, their shadowy claws dragged along the ground, making a terrible grinding noise.

Nico growled and got to his feet. The creatures leapt at Nico and buried him under their bodies. They all tried to tried to pry apart his arms so that they could get to his tender chest and neck while Halixat went up to the table and sat on the edge of it. She held her chin thoughtfully and could only help but smile as Nico screamed, "JESSE, YOU FUCKING COWARD!"

The cries, threats and curses all ceased and Halixat got up. "Okay guys, you can leave him alone." The creatures bowed and left back to the shadows they came from. Halixat nudged Nico's back with her foot. The Nobody flinched slightly and sat up. His clothes were shredded and there were several deep gashes along his body.

She placed her fingers on his forehead and the Free Magic stench intensified so much that Nico released the contents of his stomach on his lap. She sighed and removed her fingers. The smell left and he looked down at his puke-stained trousers groggily. "Oh, for fucks sake. My pants!" He looked up at Halixat and quickly looked away. He opened a portal and ran through.

She grinned and returned to Vince. "Now then, it's your turn." She picked up another syringe and injected the liquid into his arm. She pushed the table through a portal and leaned against the counter. "Now, I wait."

* * *

Donald hid behind Goofy's legs as they marched through the castle. Definitely a creepy place. Everything was left in ruins, you'd be lucky to find one square inch of space that didn't have a cobweb somewhere.

Thunder roared in the sky and Donald and Goofy jumped and screamed, Sora jumped slightly and fell backwards. Riku just walked on, as if nothing happened and said, "Heh. Losers."

"Not funny! That was loud!" Sora got up and continued walking beside Riku. He even put in the extra effort to move ahead. Riku grinned at him and did the same. They both eventually broke out into an all out sprint to best the other teen, leaving Donald and Goofy all alone.

A shiver went up Donald's spine and he looked around himself. "Goofy, ever get the idea you're being watched?" Goofy let out a nervous chuckle. "A-hyuck, yeah Donald. Do you?" He waited patiently for the duck's response, but nothing came. Goofy looked around. "Donald! Donald, where are you?" He saw a black shape move out of the corner of his eye and Goofy turned to face it, holding his shield ready. Empty space, nothing was there.

Goofy took a step backwards. "Donald, this really isn't funny, you're mortifyin' me."

Goofy's dog-ears perked up and he turned around to see the black shape. It had broad shoulders and a very eerie look to it. "I think you meant terrifying." Its eyes glowed red and lunged at Goofy.

* * *

Sora abruptly stopped and turned around. Riku did the same. "Did you hear that?" Sora asked. Riku summoned Way to the Dawn. "Yeah, should we check it out?"

Sora didn't answer Riku's question. He just ran back down the hall and Riku quickly followed behind. They were back at the entrance, and suddenly everything grew quiet. Like a grave.

A black figure appeared in front of them, blocking the exit. It walked forward, its black cape slid along the ground, as if it weren't even walking, just levitating. It stopped in front of Sora and Riku and inclined its head to them. "I am sorry, but the master is not ready for your appointment, I must ask you to leave until it is time for your appointment." Its voice was obviously male. "Don't worry, I will be sure to fetch you when you are called for." He smiled, revealing a row of pearly white teeth, as well as two fangs.

Sora ignored them and glared up at the man that stood a full head above both him and Riku. "Tell me where my friends are, now!" Kingdom Key appeared in his hands and he looked at it in shock. "You're not…" His body froze and he couldn't finish off his sentence. He was lifted up by some invisible force and thrown out the castle doors. Riku flew out after him and landed roughly on his rear.

Sora ran up to the oak doors as they started closing. They slid closed before Sora could get to them, and Sora started beating on the door with Kingdom Key. "Let me in! Let me get my friends back! Please!" Riku came up to Sora and grabbed him from behind. "Sora, stop! There's nothing you can do. We need to regroup, that guy threw us out like we were nothing. Let's see if anyone in a nearby village or something can tell us what's happening. Besides, I can't use my darkness anymore."

Sora looked at Riku. "You can't use your dark magic?" The other teen shook his head. "No, it just… left." Lightning flashed in the sky and illuminated the ancient towers of the castle. Sora looked hopefully up at the towers, thinking there was a possibility he could see his captive friends. "Don't worry; we'll come back for you. Donald, Goofy."

"And Tom. We forgot about him!" Riku said. Sora sighed and chuckled weakly. "Well, let's hope he's stuck up there too. It will make our search a lot easier."

* * *

Finally, they got past the rubble and entered a magnificent looking hall. It was decorated with beautiful furniture and there were several paintings of a demon, every one of them was the same demon, just in different poses. In the centre of the hall was a fountain that made a small waterfall around the same demon that was featured in the paintings.

Etna looked around and said, "Wow… This is a pretty nice place." Kevin frowned at her and said, "Yeah. When you get past the caved in entrance back there, that is."

Etna scowled at him and Lochit pointed at a beautifully decorated vase and said, "Look at that!" Etna walked up to it, appraising it almost as if she had done so thousands of times before. She dropped it on the ground and stomped on the fragments. "Well, that was junk. Pretty good try for a newbie, Lochit."

Lochit sighed and turned her back as Etna started crushing more and more vases. "That looked the same as my grandmother's…" She said.

Xunahs grinned and patted her back. "Oh well, at least she didn't break the real thing." Etna finally quit smashing the pottery and found a vase that was perfect. She hugged it tightly and trotted happily back to the group.

"Y'know Etna, we shouldn't be petty thieves…" Dyme said. Laharl chuckled. "He's right. I will not accept something on as small of a scale! Being an Overlord, I can't be impartial and..."

Tahlia sighed, knowing what was going to come next. "Impartial and…?"

"PLUNDER EVERYTHING!"

Kevin gasped in mock amazement. "You are truly diabolical!" He cried. "An amazingly devious tyrant!" Xunahs added. "A real demon among demons!" Etna yelled.

Tahlia grinned. "A really short punk!" Everyone became quiet and looked at her. "BECAUSE BEING A BIG SOFTIE IS FOR NERDS!" She wailed which caused Kevin to glower at her and she shrugged. "Your terror is a lot less terrifying than his."

"AHAHAHA! Stop flattering me, my vassals!" Laharl's cackling made Kevin's skin crawl with annoyance and he fingered the prince when his back was turned. "Royalty always pissed me off." He grumbled.

"Well, Princey-poo, why don't you go punch in your brother's face?" Lochit asked, smirking at him. Kevin flailed his arms and cried, "That's not the same thing! I hate the egotistical royalty!"

"Oh come now, I know I am beautiful and perfect in every way, shape and form, but why must I always be kidnapped?" Tahlia asked in a perfect imitation of Kevin, she even went as far as adding a hair flip for effect.

"Whaaat? There is no more magnificent demon than I, Dark Adonis!"

Laharl cracked his knuckles. "Good, the first example is on its way."

"How rude of you, to invade a man's house and to steal his furniture and plotting to take his life! However, I give you credit for your bravery."

"And we would give you credit for showing your ugly mug!" Etna shouted.

"HAAAAAH!" A demon jumped down from the rafters from the inside of the room. He looked exactly like the hundreds of portraits of himself in the room. He had long, dark gray hair and a coat that looked almost exactly like Kevin's (which he realized, much to his dismay).

Kevin summoned Vortex and pointed it at Adonis. "Mid-Boss, I challenge you!" Mid-Boss looked horrified by the name. "Wha-what?! I will not allow such a disgusting name!"

Laharl glared at Kevin and yelled, "HEY YOU JERK! I WAS SUPPOSED TO CALL HIM THAT!"

Kevin returned Laharl's glare. "Shut up, this is a duel about pride. The pride of a man's wardrobe." He returned his attention to Mid-Boss and Tahlia watched in awe. "He looks so serious!" She said.

"Which is kinda funny, seeing as how you can't take him serious after he said _that_." Etna and Lochit said at the same time.

Xunahs sighed and looked over at Dyme. "Wanna sit?" Dyme nodded and fell onto his rear. "Good idea. Want popcorn?" A bag of buttered popcorn appeared in front of Xunahs out of thin air. "One step ahead of you." He offered the bag to Laharl. "Want some?"

Laharl grinned greedily at the bag and snatched it. He quickly wolfed down the contents and crumpled up the bag. He tossed it at Dyme, who sighed sadly. "Oh yeah, you can't be impartial. Darn."

Mid-Boss looked at Vortex with interest. "A Keyblade…? I see… You are no ordinary demon."

Kevin crouched. "You're right. I'm not a demon, I'm a Nobody!" He opened his wings and jumped at Mid-Boss. Etna looked at Kevin with shock. "Did he just say that…? That was the corniest thing I've heard today!"

"Really? I thought Coat Pride was the corniest thing." Lochit replied dryly.

Kevin rolled to the left and landed on the ground. He dashed at Mid-Boss from the back and swung Vortex at his back. Mid-Boss let out a shocked cry and clumsily jumped out of the way of the Keyblade. Just as Kevin stopped, Mid-Boss ran at him and punched him in the back. Kevin fell forwards, and Mid-Boss let out another cry and Kevin got up and sighed. "I almost feel bad for fighting him…"

Adonis smirked at him and ran at Kevin, too quick for the Nobody to react. "I'll teach you for belittling the handsome Lord Vyers! Adonic Buster!"

Everyone that was watching cringed as Kevin was thrashed by the attack (for it was too graphic for description) and he was thrown at Xunahs and Dyme. They fell backwards under the human-shaped projectile and Laharl sighed. "Finally! Can we let the real fight begin?"

Kevin took off his coat and sat between the two teens. "Oh well, it's been a slice." He threw the coat out the window behind him and Dyme and Xunahs looked at him with shock. "What the feck do you think you're doing?!" Xunahs cried.

"Only one man may wear a coat like that in this story, because I lost the duel, I must now remain with a bare upper body." Kevin replied sadly, looking down at the floor.

Dyme looked over at Xunahs and Xunahs returned the stare. _Yes, he is always like that when he loses at something like that._

Laharl came back a few seconds later with a triumphant grin. "Let's go guys."

"It's not fair…" Mid-Boss moaned. "That Kevin kid tired me out too much during the fight…"

"Yeah whatever." Laharl left the Prinnies behind to clean up the rest of Mid Boss' possessions.

"Uh, Prince… Sorry, I need to use the washroom." Etna ran off ahead in search of the bathrooms.

"Well, now what do we do?" Tahlia asked. Laharl turned to the five and said, "You do what vassals are supposed to do: the dirty work! Pick that stuff up!" Laharl pointed to the treasures and Kevin sighed. "You're not serious… Are you?"

A pink Prinny walked up to Kevin and offered him the coat he threw out the window. He took it and put it on after she insisted he take it from her. "Now, now. It isn't much longer until you are able to leave." She said. Kevin looked at her questioningly. "What?"

She turned around and walked away as if Kevin didn't say anything and helped the other Prinnies do their work.

* * *

"No, he doesn't suspect a thing."

"Hmhmhm…Good. But how did he survive after drinking that potion? If he fully recovers, this will become a difficult task…"

"Don't worry, just leave it to me, and the throne will be yours."

"Are you sure you can deliver on that promise?"

"Yes… Remember, in exchange…"

"I know. When I reign supreme as the Overlord, I shall return it to you."

"…"

"HAHAHAHA!"

* * *

We interrupt your Author's Note today for Q&A with Kevin and Xunahs!

Kevin: Ah yes, this is a new segment of the chapters devised as a way to replace the boring old Author's Notes.

Xunahs: And don't worry, we won't be the only ones to handle your questions! Every one of the main characters will at least get one go at the question answering!

Xunahs: Our first question comes from 14 year old Rebecca from Earth. _Xunahs, is that your natural hair?_ Hmm… -tugs hair- No… Can't say this is my natural hair. It's the natural hair of whoever's corpse this is! I kinda want my own body back though.

Kevin: -slides away- And now, for a letter from 15 year old Megan from the Netherworld. _Are you gay for Xunahs?_ –reads over it a few times- What… Do you have some sort of fetish or something? And no, I like… -blush- Eheheh… Uh…

Someone in the background: ASHLEE!

Kevin: Yes… Ashlee… Eheheh.

Xunahs: It's so totally Tom.

Kevin: No! Ashlee, seriously! I have this awesome kickass plan set up for Ashlee! It's got a lake sho… Can't spoil it, sorry guys.

Xunahs: And that concludes tonight's segment of Questions and Answers with Kevin and Xunahs! Next week you can expect Sora and Riku to answer your much-needed questions. It'll be interesting, won't it, Kevin?

Kevin: Oh indeed. –cackle-


	8. Enter Flonne

Chapter Eight: Enter Flonne

"Did you send for me, Master Lamington?"

Lamington nodded at Flonne and said, "Yes, I did. Have a look, Flonne. The flowers are in full bloom."

She smiled up at him and said, "How beautiful!" She giggled at the flowers swaying in the soft breeze and sighed. "I love these flowers. They are simple, yet so bright and lively; I want to be like them."

Lamington patted her shoulder and said, "Flonne, listen carefully to what I have to say."

"Yes?"

"As Seraph, I have orders for you, Angel Trainee Flonne. Go to the Netherworld and assassinate the Overlord, King Kirchevskoy."

"Huh…?" Flonne looked up at the Seraph with a very confused expression. "We're angels, we don't kill people…"

Flonne sighed, looking at the large, stone castle that stood over a lake of lava. "Well, I'm here… the Overlord's Castle. But why did the Seraph pick me? Master Vulcanus would have been a much better choice… But that isn't the problem! Assassination? What is the Seraph thinking?"

An angel with what seemed like a perpetually angry face ran along the flower filled field and cried, "Master Lamington! Master Lamington, are you here?!"

Lamington appeared in front of the angel and asked, "Why all the ruckus, Vulcanus? You scared the birds away."

Vulcanus scowled at the Seraph and said, "Who cares about the birds… I have an important question! Is it true that you sent Flonne to assassinate King Krichevskoy?"

"Yes. That is true."

"What?! What did you do that for?! King Krichevskoy is the _ruler_ of that abominable, dirty, rotten Netherworld!"

"…"

"If you want him assassinated, you should send me! But instead, you picked an Angel Trainee… You think too much of her! I am _very_ aggravated by this!" He disappeared and Seraph Lamington closed his eyes. "That's exactly why you are not fit for this task. Besides, this is something only Flonne can accomplish."

* * *

Flonne ran and ducked behind a pillar to hide behind a demon boy that had the body of a human, but had purple dragon scales covering him. He was talking to another demon boy that was wearing a soggy blue coat and a pair of blue jeans. The dragon boy nodded his head over where Flonne was hiding and the other boy turned around, looking at her hiding place with red eyes. He grinned and opened his wings.

He jumped off the ground and flew over to her hiding spot and found nothing there. Flonne ran from behind the pillar next to her old hiding place, whispering "Nin nin nin!" under her breath. She peaked from behind the throne and watched the two boys talking. They looked up as a girl called for them and they exchanged exasperated glances. They walked out of the throne room, leaving Flonne alone.

_Phew! That was close!_ She ran out from behind the throne and into a nearby hallway. She jumped up a small set of stairs and landed saying, "WHUMP!" She looked around the room and besides the torches in the corners of the rooms and the carpet on the floor; there was a single coffin in the middle of the room that was illuminated by the moonlight from outside.

Hmm… What do they call those guys in the human world, the guys that jump and run? Oh yes, ninjas. I always wanted to be one! Maybe I have potential, zam. But still, is it right for me to be doing this…? The demons are supposed to be evil, but are they really? It doesn't seem fair to judge somebody on rumors alone. Even if it's the Seraph's orders, I don't feel right assassinating somebody I don't know."

She paused thoughtfully and gasped. "Does that mean it's right for me to kill someone I DO know? That's wrong too! Can't kill strangers… Hmmmm, can't kill acquaintances either… which means…" She sighed.

"Who are you and why are you in my room talking to yourself?" Flonne jumped and turned around. She threw the demon boy that came up from behind her away and screamed a very loud battle cry.

"Ow! What the heck did you do that for?!"

"Oh! I'm sorry. You scared me, so I accidentally…" _Wait a second… Is he a demon? There are demons this young…? I didn't know that._

"Hmph. So who are you?" The boy asked.

"Me? Nice to meet you, I'm an assassin!" She smiled sweetly at him and Laharl looked at her like she was crazy. "Whoops, I wasn't supposed to say that."

"…You're pretty dense, aren't you?"

"My! How rude, calling somebody you just met dense!"

"I think an assassin that tries to kill someone is a lot ruder."

"…You're right. I apologize. It looks like I failed this time, so I guess I'll be leaving now. I'll be back again. Please take care." She ran away and Laharl just stood there for a minute.

"Someone, get in here now!" Etna ran into the chamber almost immediately after Laharl yelled. Kevin, Xunahs, Dyme, Lochit and Tahlia followed closely behind and looked very tired.

"Why are you calling us so late at night? I was just nodding off!" Kevin complained as he rubbed his eyes.

"Did you have a nightmare or something?" Etna said, scowling at the prince. "No you idiot! An assassin got into the castle!" He shouted.

"Sounds a lot like a nightmare to me." Lochit said under her breath.

"Did the assassin have giant waving tentacles that he—MMPH!" Dyme shuddered and removed his hand from Tahlia's mouth. He wiped his hand furiously on his coat. "Oh God, that's disgusting!"

"Not as disgusting at what she was going to say…" Xunahs muttered in reply.

"Can someone tell me what happened to the two demons that were supposed to be on patrol?" He glared at Kevin and Xunahs. Kevin shrugged. "Etna yelled at us. Someone got into her pudding stash."

"And I know it was you, you smell of pudding you fatty!" She cried, pointing her finger accusingly at Kevin.

"You're the one that's obsessing over pudding, Ms. Morbidly Obese!"

Laharl glared at the two and yelled, "SHUT UP! We have an assassin to track down!"

When they got into the main hall, the zombie that stood by the hospital said, "Prince, I saw the assassin run up to the dimensional gate to get away." Laharl sighed. "And why didn't you go after her?" The zombie shrugged and said, "That would have involved effort on my part."

Laharl gave the zombie an I'llkillyou glare and walked up to the dimensional gate. "Oh, Prince. A mysterious girl ran through here to use the gate." "Where did she go?!"

"She wanted to go to a place where nobody could find her, so I sent her to Frozen River."

"Doesn't revealing her location kinda ruin the whole purpose of escaping?" Xunahs asked.

"Yes, yes it does."

* * *

"So, Riku… Any luck?"

Riku shook his head. "No, nothing but a bunch of people that spit at me when I ask them about the castle. How about you?"

Sora grinned and said, "There's a pub down the street and there's a man in there that knows about the castle and is willing to help us out."

"Oh Good. So, how many stops did you have to make?"

"One."

"I hate you so much sometimes, Sora."

Sora sighed. "Well, some people are just different. Maybe they don't like you because you're wearing weird clothes."

"You're the one with a million and two belts and zippers with an unbelievably short hoodie!"

"... Let's just stop arguing, okay?" Sora asked, and tunred around to go into the pub.

"I _really_ hate him sometimes." Riku said, following the brunette into the pub.

The first thing they realized: the pub stank of tobacco and sweat. Riku held his breath as Sora walked through the crowded pub like no one was there. No one seemed to even notice as he slipped in between the bulky men and to the table a strange man was sitting.

Riku took in a breath to refil his lungs and joined Sora with the man that was wearing a black hoodie and a colourful skirt that contrasted sharply with the clothing of the men of the pub. Even his legs looked like they would have fit better on a woman, he even had breasts. Riku smacked his forehead and thought, _Sora, your friend is a girl..._

She whispered something in Sora's ear and the two got up. She walked to Riku and offered her hand, saying, "Nice to meet you, Riku. I'd like it if the three of us could go outside and chat. I don't trust the men in here as far as I can throw them. I''ve had to break three arms tonight. If only I could have had them back there... I'd teach them what happens when you mess with me."

Riku raised and eyebrow and looked over at Sora questioningly and then returned his attention to the girl and smiled kindly at her. "I agree. These guys are a bit too burly for us dudes to handle alone. By the way, you smell very good, is that rose perfume?"

She giggled slightly and held a hand up to her pale cheek and rumaged with the hood that was concealing her face. Riku smirked, seeing the red in her cheeks and offered his hand for her to hold. She refused it and said, "Oh, don't worry. They'll move in a minute."

Almost as if they were parts of a machine, all of the men simultaneously stopped conversing and drinking and put down whatever they were holding and walked to one end of the pub, making plenty of room for the three to get out. She grinned, showing her teeth and said under her breath, "And that's all she wrote."

The two boys exchanged looks and followed her cautiously out of the pub, watching the men on the far side of the room stare blankly at them as if they were posessed. The moment they left, the pub exploded back to life and it was as loud as ever.

"What'd you do there...?" Riku asked cautiously, ready to summon Way To The Dawn and attack if the girl became violent.

"I'll explain that in a moment, first I think I should tell you about what's happening in that castle. You see, the man that lives in there and is the leader of whatever lives there with him is a vampire. A demon vampire... I don't make this stuff up, honestly. Well, not anymore that is... Anyways! This vampire has taken over the world for the most part with brute force and likes to call himself the Overlord. He's in league with these other evil people and they are working together to help them realize their own goals. Odds are, they're going to stab each other in the back."

"So, what's the story behind the castle? And you?" Riku asked, never taking his eyes off the girl.

"Oh! Where are my manners?" She asked, raising her hands up to grab the edges of her hood. She latched on to the black fabric of her hood and pulled it down, revealing deep blue hair on her head as well as a pale face and purple eyes. "My name's Marie Suzette."

Sora and Riku stood there for a moment, glanced at each other and returned their attention to Marie. "That's odd... It feels like something very ominious just happened and that we should be fearing for our sexuality. Riku, you get that feeling too?"

"Yep."

The girl squealed slightly and flapped her arms to get their attention. "Well, if the castle's been sealed off, odds are you can't get in unless you can actually unlock _anything_ with a Keyblade. Even my own powers can't break down that barrier… Then again, their effects on the worlds are different with each world… One world, I might be able to bring back an entire human population from the dark abyss, and another world, my powers don't work at all." There was a moment of silence and small glittery flakes exploded off of her hair and fell around her, disappearing at her feet. She groaned in annoyance and shook her head, making more sparkles fall out.

"That was a violent change of subject. But now this is interesting, what _are_ your powers, Marie?" Sora asked.

"Glad you asked." She zipped open her hoodie and pulled out a leatherbound book and a pen that were tucked away in a sewn in pocket. She flipped open the book to the first page and scribbled something down and slammed the book shut. There was a moment of silence and then the street light next to her bent down and snapped in half.

"My powers are pretty cool, actually. But sometimes, they have bad effects. Like if I try to change my own appearance with it, some of the changes will be permenant, or magic will flake off at bad times, like what happened there with the glittery hair. The other bad thing is that they can't directly affect people that weren't born on the world I use my powers on, but I can still make natives of this world work under my will against people that aren't. There are so many rules…" She sighed and tucked the book away.

* * *

"Hmhmhmhm…"

"Rise, my toys. I have a job for the two of you." Tom's head bobbed and he looked up at the man with blank eyes. Vince did the same. "They are on their way; I need the two of you to do something. It is simple and easily done. Give me time to prepare, stop them before they can reach me. "If you fight Sora or Riku, chances are you'll hurt them. If you do, I do not want you to clean your weapons. After the fight, I want them to be brought up to me for samples."

They nodded and disappeared in wisps of smoke. The vampire smiled at the moon that hung just outside the castle windows. _My rightfully deserved title will be mine._

_

* * *

_

Sora lowered Kingdom Key and the barrier around the front of the castle dispersed. At that very moment, a large group of Shadows surrounded them. Sora, Riku and Marie and the girl pulled out her book nonchalantly as the Heartless began their attacks and wrote something down. There was a thunderclap and a bolt of lightning streaked through the air and smashed into the Heartless, destroying the ones that stood in front of her.

Marie wrote down something in her book, snapped it shut and looked up at the dragon statue on one of the towers of the castle with a smug look.

The dragon statue shuddered as it came to life and stretched as if it had woken from a thousand year nap. It leaped off the building and ripped at the Heartless with claws and teeth until they were all gone. It landed in front of Marie, brushed her cheek affectionately with its marble snout and flew back up to its perch, where it became petrified again. She tucked it back in her jacket and said, "And that's all she wrote."

Sora sighed as the Shadow he was about to kill disappeared and he turned to Marie. "That was a kill steal. Unfair." She stuck her tongue out at him and said, "If this were a game, I would try a bit harder and beat the pants off of you." She turned around to force the helmet of a Soldier Heartless that came out of nowhere into its skull with her heel.

* * *

"Kin, I have a job for you." Kin looked up from her novel to see Superior standing in front of her, staring at her sternly. "Yes sir?"

"Well, as you may have learned, we lost visual and audio on Kevin's group. It just simply blinked out and the seconds before they were lost, they were confronted by a very powerful being. I want you to investigate, Reina and I are too tired to see, and we have faith in you, third in command." Superior said. There was the sound of something breaking in the hall outside Kin's room and the sound of hurried footsteps moving away.

_That son of a bitch is giving my power to a little girl? How could he?_ Gretchen stopped and looked around. "Well, if he can't accept my power, then I have no reason to be here." She muttered under her breath. She opened a portal and walked through it.

One of the two girls that wore the Organization cloaks walked from behind a corner. She smiled as Gretchen left and brushed some of her silver hair out from in front of her eyes. "Oh man, do I ever have something to share with Lar-Lar and Mar-Mar… Why am I calling them that?"

She turned around and ran to where Larxene and Marlixua were waiting.

* * *

"Oh man, this place is so much more comfortable than those annoying castles!" Larxene said as she stretched on the couch. Marluxia nodded his agreement and walked over to deal with a tulip that had dry soil. "Yes, this is a much more to my tastes. We got very little freedom back in the Organization. However, we were also at war to a degree with outside forces. When Sora wasn't around, it was King Mickey and DiZ. These people have been lying in the shadows for so long that they weren't even noticed until they started acting up a few months ago."

"Pfft, do you really think they were active for as long as Organization XIII was?"

"I would be very surprised, Larxene. If it were active for as long, that would mean its leader was a child prodigy in the art of illegal activities at the age of fifteen."

"And what about me?" Larxene yawned and sat up. Marluxia put down his watering can and faced the young girl that had walked in and asked the question. "I was twice the leader my old man was, and I'm sixteen."

Larxene waved her hand at the girl dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. We know, but really, you weren't as destructive as Xemnas or this guy."

"But, I was a lot more subtle in my actions."

"The fact that Sora fell for your lie about wanting to set up a school when you opened Kingdom Hearts is both amazing and depressing. And even then, you still lost to a halfwit and your half sister." Marluxia sneered at the girl, whose cheeks became flushed with anger.

"How dare you!" She shrieked shrilly. "Are you undermining my abilities?"

"No, no! Of course not hon, we're simply pointing something out: you are nothing, if it weren't for us, you would not have been able to escape that dimension. But how could you have lost to such a helpless puppy? Two helpless puppies! Sora and Ares, and you lost to them."

"And didn't the two of you lose to Sora _alone_?" She snarled at the two Nobodys, hoping that her comment would rub the superior smirks off their faces. It didn't work.

"Not your Sora. He was nothing compared to the real one. Your Sora's heart was so easy to crush when I held Kairi captive and murdered his own sister. They were so entertaining… except for Gus, who was very, very annoying." Larxene said. She flopped back onto her back and pulled the hood over her blue eyes. "Now, if you two fine ladies don't mind me, I'm going to take a nap."

* * *

"Dear crap, it's cold!" Kevin tugged his jacket closed and trudged through the snow. Xunahs walked up behind him, shivering just as much, the others that came in after were unaffected; in fact, Lochit seemed delighted.

She twirled around and watched the flakes lift up around her. She looked at the group of zombies that stood at the base of a hill and said, "Don't worry people, they're all mine."

She held her hands out and waited patiently for shards of ice to form in front of her. "What the French toast?!" A zombie hopped up to her and smacked her with its hands. She slid back and scowled at the thing. She summoned her ice rapier and dashed at it, slicing it in two with the blade.

The snow that was lifted up by the attack fell back down slowly as she jumped through it backwards. Kevin sighed at her and said, "I thought they were all yours. Oh well, time for me to have a bit of fun."

Tahlia hip-checked him out of the way and threw kunai at one of the zombies that was advancing to them. The kunai missed and dug themselves into the ground surrounding a group of four zombies. Electricity passed between the kunai and through the zombies, frying them. They fell to the ground and Tahlia grinned. "Fun, fun, fun!"

"Prince, they're showing off…" Etna said in an annoyed tone. Laharl turned around to face her and said, "Is there a problem with that? They're doing their job by destroying these pests for me." He looked up when Dyme shouted "Dance water, dance!" and spheres of water washed away the remaining zombies, Lochit froze them and they walked up the hill when there was nothing left.

"Well, that was easy and boring." Xunahs said through chattering teeth.

They arrived at the top of the hill and saw the angel with her back turned to them. Laharl pointed frantically and cried, "There she is!" Xunahs and Kevin looked at each other, nodded and looked back at the girl. Etna gaped at the girl with surprise, "She's the assassin?!"

"If she's the assassin, then I'm the Easter Bunny's sister, Delilah." Lochit said in a slightly annoyed voice. Xunahs sighed and said, "But we saw her in the castle earlier today."

Laharl scowled at him and said, "I thought you were asleep…"

"We went to bed after she got away."

"… Just shut up and capture her."

"Aye aye, dude." Xunahs stepped up and held the broadsword over his right shoulder and Kevin stepped up beside him, holding Vortex ready.

"Prinny Pretty Prippanica!" Kevin blinked and lowered his weapon, Xunahs did the same. "Well, what the feck was that?"

"Mighty warriors, protect me!" The angel cried. More zombies came up out of the ground in front of her. Etna gasped and stumbled back. "Angelic language?!" She cried. Lochit frowned at her and said, "I find the fact that an angel is walking around, summoning zombies is a lot more startling than the useless blabbering."

Laharl crossed his arms and said, "It makes no difference for me. Angel or god, anyone who opposes me will suffer a terrifying death. Hahaha! Say your prayers!"

"Please don't push yourselves too hard. You guys can run away if it gets dangerous." The angel said to the zombies. "Well, if that were the case, why the hell did you call them in the first place?" Lochit yelled.

"'Cause she's cool like that?" Tahlia responded, looking slightly bewildered.

The angel smiled at her and ran away, leaving the zombies behind.

"Don't let her escape!" Laharl cried. Kevin jumped up and opened his wings and flew over the zombies. Lochit grabbed onto his legs and Xunahs leapt over their heads and continued to chase the angel up the hill.

* * *

Flonne bumped into a girl that was wearing all purple. The only thing on her that wasn't red was her blue hair that was cut short to make her look like a boy. She looked down at Flonne through narrow eye slits in her mask that made her look like she had a demon's face. Flames burst from her shoulders randomly and the mask seemed to cover her head almost like a helmet.

"Run along, I'm here to help. My name's Kin."

Flonne accepted Kin's hand and said, "Thank you very much, Ms. Kin."

The long purple tails of Kin's coat swayed slightly in the breeze made when Flonne ran past her and she smiled as Kevin, Xunahs and Lochit came into sight, the part of the mask where her mouth would be stretched with her smile.

"Who are you?" Kevin asked, holding out Vortex.

"Kin. I'd prefer we'd skip this crap with the greetings and stuff. The bottom line is that I need you guys for an experiment the boss is trying out." Two jets of flame burst from her hands and Moon Blade and Sun Blade came out from the flames.

"Jasmine?"

"Dunno."

She ran at Kevin and swung Moon Blade at his head. He parried the blow and twisted away from Sun Blade as she tried to stab him in the ribs. He grabbed her right shoulder and threw her to the ground. "Well, that was fun." He said mockingly. She grinned up at him and said, "This won't be." Balls of fire formed at her hands and feet and exploded into four separate pillars of flame. Kevin was thrown back by the explosion and he tumbled through the frost and snow.

"Damn it, she caught me off guard." He tried to stand up, but instead gasped in pain and lied back down in the snow. Lochit ran up to him and quickly looked at him. There was a large burn on his chest and his right leg was burnt badly. Kevin tried to get back up, but Lochit forced him down. "Don't bother trying; your right shin has a third degree burn. Just let me and Xunahs handle this, okay?"

Kevin let out a choked gasp and nodded his head. Lochit bit her lip and stood back up from her kneeling position.

"Hey, Jasmine!" The flaming pillars died down and Kin stood up, looking over at Lochit. "I remember hearing the others say something about how you'd protect your friends, no matter what." She jerked her thumb in Kevin's direction and said, "If you did actually say that, you are doing one shitty job of keeping your word."

Xunahs, who was on the other side of Kin nodded and said, "She's right. I may not have heard those words, but I heard about how you saved Kevin and Ashlee getting mind raped by those twins. What happened to you?"

* * *

"… This was an unexpected twist."

"Hmhmhm…" Seraph Lamington looked up and said, "Show yourself!" The owner of the voice stepped out from behind one of the pillars and Lamington sighed with relief and said, "Oh, it is you. Please, do not startle me like that. So… how are things progressing?"

"Why don't you tell me yourself? All I can say is that they have not gone perfectly, but there is nothing to be concerned about."

"And what about that girl? Do you know her goals?" Lamington asked.

"No. But like I said, there is nothing to be concerned about."

"I see… Forgive me for putting such a heavy burden on you."

"Please, it was my idea to begin with. By the way, how is Flonne doing? Did she meet Laharl safely?"

"I would not use the word 'safely', but she is managing in her own way, and with the help of this new girl." Lamington replied.

"As are the children that are with Laharl and Etna. They don't act the same as demons. But I have faith in Laharl to do his job properly."

"As do I with Flonne." Lamington replied.

* * *

Laharl ran towards the zombies and leapt high up into the air. Fire burst out around his fist and he crashed to the ground, creating a large explosion that destroyed the zombies around him. Etna impaled one through the head with a spear while Tahlia and Dyme worked together with destroying them.

A group of blue mages marched down the hill and pointed their staves down at the group just as Laharl finished off the last zombie. The ends of their staves glowed blue and a barrage of ice shards flew down at them. Everyone got behind a large rock and looked over once the barrage had stopped. The mages were moving down towards them, looking at the rock with determination.

"What the hell do we do? There's too many of them!" Dyme said. Laharl started to laugh. He stood up and stepped out from behind the rock and walked through the snow towards the marching enemies. They all pointed their staves at him and they glowed blue again. Laharl ran for them and jumped high into the air with his fist blazing. He fell to the ground and the explosion caused threw the mages back. Etna ran out from behind the rock and she and Laharl finished the mages off.

Dyme covered Tahlia's eyes and said, "That is a bit much for a thirteen year old to see." Tahlia shook him off and sat down behind the rock, waiting for the two demons to come back.

Tahlia jumped up and yelled, "Let's catch up with the others!"

* * *

"Hahaha… You think something _happened_ to me? I am not this Jasmine girl; I have her swords because I ripped them away from her corpse after I impaled her with them!"

Xunahs clenched his teeth and walked towards her. "What are you talking about?" He asked. Kin turned around to face him, her mask stretched to smile. "Tell me, does this look like the face of Jasmine?"

She felt something cold and sharp prick the back of her neck and Lochit said, "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

She spun around and slashed at Lochit with Sun Blade. The sword was stopped mid-swing as a busty woman appeared at Lochit's side and blocked the sword with her own. Lochit stabbed her rapier at Kin's mask and a chunk of it flew off. Kin stumbled back and covered the part of her face that had been revealed with her hand and ran away.

Tahlia ran up over the hill first and immediately ran for Kevin. She knelt next to him and sighed. "You get hurt a lot. You know that, right?"

He chuckled and said, "Yeah. What can I say, it's fun being reckless." Claudia appeared next to Tahlia and immediately went to work on healing Kevin's leg and chest. She stood up and nodded at Tahlia and said, "He's all better now. Would you like me to come with you, madam?"

Tahlia shrugged and grinned at her. "Whatever you think is best, Claudia." Laharl glared at Tahlia and stepped forwards, "You are sickening demon. Show some backbone and let your vassals know who's boss!"

"And what if I wanted to let her make her own decisions?" Tahlia asked him and returned his glare. "Then you are a terrible leader and you aren't worthy of having a vassal!" He thrust his sword at Claudia, but Xunahs smashed it away with his own broadsword. "How about you calm down, shrimp? You aren't the boss of us."

"You're my vassals! You do whatever I tell you to do!" He cried. Xunahs glared at him angrily and picked him up by the scarf. "Don't think you can talk to me like that. Even I didn't treat my servants like crap when I was living in my castle."

Laharl threw him off and stomped away. "Yeah, whatever." Etna glanced over at the others and quickly followed Laharl up the hill.

Dyme sighed as Laharl walked away. "Well, what do we do now? Laharl would probably kill us if we went with him." He said.

Kevin got up, pointed to the east and said, "We follow Jasmine."

* * *

And now for Questions and Answers with Sora and Riku! *crowd cheery noises*

Riku: This is Questions and Answers with Sora and Riku. The segment in which Sora and I answer fan questions directed solely at us… Dear God, why? What did I do wrong?

Sora: Shh! We're getting paid for this, Riku!

Riku: What? Well, that seems to have made me even happier! *smiles*

Sora: Really?!

Riku: No.

Sora: Anyways! First question from a sixteen year old girl from… Dark Depressing Land of Love… Yeah. "_Sora, Riku, what's your favourite position?"_ Well! *gets up from chair and crouches* I like to stand like this, I can react quickly when someone's attacking me.

Riku: *sighs, stands up* Sora, I think she meant this kind of position *pelvic thrust*

Sora: Oh…

And that concludes tonight's segment! Next week, Marie gets to go at it solo!

Sora: Well… That just seems mean.

Riku: Oh well, at least she's getting paid!


	9. A Plan

Author's Note: Yeah, I decided to move away from Laharl's group. It didn't feel right, like I was just copying someone else's work with a few extra words thrown in to 'make it my own'. There will be a return to the Disgaea plot a few chapters in the future, but for now, not so much. Also, sorry for the atrociously late update. I've had a lot of stuff to deal with for the past few weeks, but updates will occur as scheduled again.

* * *

Chapter Nine: A Plan

Sora stepped in through the doorway of the castle and nudged aside a large brick so that no one tripped over it. Marie chuckled nervously and said, "This place is very creepy… Man, I feel like I'm in Dracula's castle!"

"…Please don't say that; I'd prefer the demon vampire." Sora replied nervously.

"Marie… Is that your given name, or is it a nickname?" Riku asked as he walked up to stand beside the two younger teens. The girl turned around and smiled at him. "My given name is different, I just preferred Marie to suit my purposes once upon a time."

"Well, what's your real name?"

"It's a secret." Marie winked at Riku and turned around, her curly brown hair bounced slightly with the motion.

There was a bolt of lightning that lit up the long corridor through the stained glass windows and the air suddenly became very cold. Marie, Riku and Sora stood back-to-back to cover each other. The cold air thickened as ghostly creatures came out from the walls and moved in to surround the three teenagers.

Sora watched them advance slowly and held Ultima Weapon ready to strike. The ghosts stopped moving and flickered from sight. Torches along the corridor became lit with blue fire and everyone exchanged nervous glances with each other. The Keybearer chuckled nervously and walked on. Marie jumped at the slightest noise made by the wind outside and Riku walked forwards as if this was nothing new to him.

"So, what about them totally not haunted, non-lethal pencils?" Sora asked nervously. Marie cackled slightly and said, "Not haunted? Non-lethal?! HAHA! You'd hate to see what I've seen. NaNoWriMo is a terrible thing." She continued to cackle as she walked on ahead.

They stopped in front of a giant stone door, like the kind that would lead to a crypt. Mist was pooling from under the door and Riku calmly walked up to the door, pushed it open and walked through the mist that covered the floor. The others exchanged nervous glances and followed Riku cautiously.

There was a loud crash down the path as something fell and the mist parted. Riku stood only a few centimeters in front of a pale-faced teenager that was holding a rune decorated scythe. He grinned maliciously at the group and said, "Your time has come, by order of the Grim Reaper."

"You don't scare me." Riku said, holding Way To The Dawn ready. The pale teenager chuckled and turned away, his tattered black cloak twirled behind him. "You might not be scared of me, but you'll probably hate the company of my friends. Good bye." He opened a portal and left. The ground shook slightly and several Assassin and Warp Sniper Nobodys appeared in the small crypt, all of them circled the three intently.

"This is pretty tight. We don't have much room to move around." Sora said from beside Riku. Marie flashed her teeth in a grin and said, "Room? How about I clear things up a bit?" She pulled out her book, snapped it open and scribbled something down. She snapped her book shut and there was a tremor. The walls hollowed out and stones started to fall from the ceiling. "Well damn, didn't see that coming."

* * *

"Fuck… She broke my mask." Kin bent over, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the pain in her head. _LET ME OUT! _She swung her head to the left and fell over in the snow. "…What's happening? I'm feeling… weak." She threw up and wrinkled her nose at the scent. She weakly moved away from the puddle of vomit that had already begun to freeze over. "I need… help…" She wheezed. Her vision started to blur and the last thing she saw was a person dressed in a black robe standing over her, looking down at her.

* * *

Kevin jumped away from the large fist of one of the golems that had him surrounded and threw Vortex at its head, landed on the snow and jumped high into the air again and let electricity explode around him and he opened his wings. He flew down at the demon and smashed its head with his foot and jumped off, released the electricity around him into a shockwave that ran through the demon's body.

He ripped the Keyblade out of its shoulder and spun in mid-air, using Vortex to behead the golem. He landed on the ground and dashed through another golem that was moving towards him.

His head snapped up as he heard Xunahs yell something and looked over to where he was fighting and saw four golems surrounding Xunahs; and Dyme, Tahlia and Lochit were faring no better. There was a sudden blast of snow and wind and the others disappeared. When the falling snow cleared, Kevin stood up and saw the golems had vanished too. Everything was gone, and he was alone on the icy mountain. He jumped slightly as he felt something under him give and the ground collapsed, sending him into the darkness below.

* * *

"Ugh… Is everyone okay?" Kevin stood up and tried to look around the cavern he had fallen into. There was no light, the hole he had fallen through had been covered already. He sighed and sat down, trying to figure out what to do and why his head felt so weird.

He stood up again and walked forward. He groaned in annoyance at the fact that he couldn't use any of his spells or reach out with his mind. Even memories from when he was younger were beginning to get confused and mixed in with other memories, or even completely erased.

_Is this a part of that Overlord's curse? Will I continue to forget more and more about myself?_ He asked himself as he staggered forwards. His leg wasn't working properly, after assessing it, he assumed it was broken, but he needed to move out of the cavern. Something wasn't right about it.

After what felt like an eternity of stumbling through the darkness, Kevin saw the soft, orange glow of a fire at the distant end of the cavern. He continued towards it and slipped on a patch of ice and fell on his rear. He grumbled a curse, got up and continued to walk towards the light, he found a lit torch that was mounted on an icy wall, took it off and continued to walk down the path until he found a large, iron door.

He lit the buttresses that hung on either side of the door, threw away the torch and walked up to the door. Kevin took in a deep breath and banged on the door and yelled, "Is anyone in there?" He stepped back as he heard footsteps on the other side of the large door, and stepped back even further as there was a click and the door slowly swung open. The yellow light from inside the room illuminated the icy walls of the small tunnel and a sillouhetted man stepped into the light.

"Yes? Who are you and what are you doing here?" Kevin cringed in annoyance as he tilted his head upwards to see the darkened face of the man. "My name is Kevin, I was hoping you could tell me why I'm in some sort of ice covered cave."

The man looked around Kevin and asked, "Do you have friends with you?"

"No, I don't. We were separated. Can you tell me your name?"

The man chuckled. "Yes, but first, I want you to come in so that we can talk better in private." Kevin followed the man in through the doorway and squinted as the bright lights from inside assaulted his eyes. The man turned around to face him and he said, "You're a vampire…"

The vampire chuckled again and said, "Yes, I am a vampire, my name is Maderas." He paused for a second and asked, "Tell me, do you know about a demon prince named Laharl?"

"Short, annoying, arrogant? I believe I do."

"Is he an acquaintance of yours?"

"Of course. If my description of him implies anything, it's that we are the bestest of buddies. Why do you want to know, Maderas?"

Maderas turned his back and studied a portrait on the wall of the small room and said, "Because, he is a threat to the Netherworld and the innocent demons living in it, if your friends disappeared, I fear it was because of Laharl's own sick, twisted plans. You see, he may appear small and incompetent, but previous to his two year nap that was caused by the blundering hands of his assassin. He was a very powerful and ruthless demon and a threat to the Netherworld he was destined to rule over, and the same clumsy assassin that caused him to nap rather than die was sent by me, so that he could threaten the Netherworld no more."

The teen looked up at the demon and said, "Nice history lesson, but what does this have to do with me? Let me guess, your previous employee wasn't good enough for you, so now you're picking up a random wanderer to assassinate Laharl for you? Jeeze, talk about low standards."

Maderas turned to face the teen, smiling at him. "You're right and wrong at the same time, Nobody. I need you because Nobodys make the perfect assassin. They kill indiscriminately and for next to no pay. Not only that, but Nobodys are naturally talented at murder, simply because they lack the compassion to not murder. On top of that, I have what you desire most. What any Nobody would desire most…" He held out his hand and a small heart materialized above it he looked at Kevin's wide eyes as they followed the levitating heart and he closed his hand, making the heart disappear. "So young Nobody, do we have a deal?"

Kevin merely shrugged and said, "I'll think about it. However, material possessions tickle my fancy more so. What else do I get out of this, besides the ability to feel remorse for killing innocent people?"

Maderas handed him a piece of paper and said, "If you manage your first assignment, I can give you a better idea of your rewards." He handed the paper over to the teen and continued. "I want you to follow these directions carefully, and if you can follow them carefully, I will allow you to go after the big prize: Prince Laharl's head."

* * *

"So, what's your name?"

"I don't have time to tell a shrimp like you something as unimportant as that! I need to get out of here, got it mem… never mind."

"And how do you plan on doing that? You can't just make a corridor and walk out like Nobodys can; after all you're only human."

The blue-haired girl turned to face the boy in the black cloak. "What was that? I'm a Nobody, you twit! I don't have a damn heart, because if I did, I would be pissed off right now, and I am VERY CALM."

"Yes, because stressing the fact that you're very calm means you are completely at peace with yourself. Now then, tell us your name."

"I don't see the point in telling you that, dreadlocks, especially since neither you, nor your short, rocker punk friend are telling me your names."

"Ever heard of Organization XIII?"

The girl sighed at the boy and nodded. "Yeah, Organization XIII, a bunch of Nobodys collecting hearts so that they can make Kingdom Hearts whole again and then, in turn get hearts of their own. Lemme guess, Rocker Punk is number IX, Demyx and Dreadlocks is number III, Xaldin. I am also familiar with your fighting patterns, and the two of you are as good as fucked in a closed space like this tunnel. So, let me out before I get violent."

"Mood swings… I should try that sometime." Demyx muttered to himself. Xaldin merely shrugged and walked up to the girl. She stepped back and said, "Don't come any closer, I will kill you."

_Why the hell am I feeling scared? I shouldn't have a heart, but… I can feel it inside of me, beating furiously._

_That's because you do have a heart, you twit._ Jasmine glowered at the two Organization members, who both looked at her with uncaring stares. _It's not them, you idiot. Good God, if you're going to be this weak, and freak out over fighting these two cronies, I am going to have to kill you from the inside and take over. It's happened before, and it ain't pretty._

_Who are you? _Jasmine asked.

_You have the ability to read and follow minds. Just latch on to my thoughts and let them drag you to me._

_And what if I refuse?_

_Then, you'll constantly wonder who this omnipotent being is that is threatening to kill you and take over your corpse. Pleasant, isn't it?_

_Nope, but I think I can manage against an omnipotent being. A god, on the other hand might be a bit hard._

_Sometimes, you are even more macho than the men of this world…_

_And don't you forget it.

* * *

_

Kevin kicked a snow-covered rock out of his way and sighed. He pulled out a photo Maderas had given him and turned it over, "So, he wants me to kill this demon that lives at the base of the mountain, bring its head back up to him as proof of the demon's death and then he'll tell me to assassinate Laharl for the awesome prize of a new heart. Yeah. I expect a really long trial of killing crap before getting to my main prize."

He stopped for a second and asked, "Does he have some sort of head fetish or something…? I mean really... heads, why heads? Why can't I just take a picture or something with me?" Doesn't matter. I am going to have to do this if I need things to end well for me."

* * *

"So, how are you four doing in here?" Xunahs glared at his captor as he walked up and untied the piece of cloth that had been tied around his mouth to keep him from yelling. He moved on to Lochit, Tahlia and Dyme before stepping back to smile mockingly at them.

"I'm sure you heard me talking with my latest client. He didn't seem to care much for you at all. He was only interested in more material possessions, which I assume meant money and riches beyond your wildest dreams."

"Kevin isn't like that though! He wouldn't turn his back on us for money!" Xunahs shouted. Lochit glared at Maderas and yelled, "Kevin's loyal to his friends, and he'd never betray us!"

Maderas simply chuckled at the chained teenagers' protests and said, "Nobodys have no sense of loyalty, because they don't have a heart to base their more chivalrous side on! If they find something that interests them more than the fate of the universe, they'd go after that rather than saving all life as we know it from extinction. Even if he did truly care about you, he wouldn't care if I did this…" He stepped up to Tahlia and punched her hard in the gut, and jumped back just before the teenager could throw up on his elegant robes. Lochit thrashed in her chains and screamed, "You bastard! Let me out so I can tear you to shreds!"

Maderas chuckled and said, "Fine. I'll play your little game for a little while." Xunahs watched as the chains around Lochit vanished and she summoned her ice rapier. She let out a scream and dashed at Maderas, who simply jumped over her and kicked her to the ground. The girl got back up and jumped high into the air and flew down at Maderas, who simply crouched, pulled his right hand back and thrust it upwards and through her stomach. She gasped in pain and coughed up blood onto his face. He smiled at her and placed his hand on her forehead and she screamed in agony and went pale.

He threw her to the ground and just as she made contact with the stone floor, her wound sealed up, and she went pale and curled up into the fetal position. Xunahs cried out her name and glared at Maderas and screamed, "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU MONSTER?" The demon grinned at the teen and said, "Proving a point. You humans aren't supposed to be in a world of demons, much less masquerading as them." He kicked Lochit's ribs and she let out a sob.

"I will kill you." Maderas looked away and over at Dyme. "Oh? The silent one is speaking, is he?"

"Yes, the silent one is speaking. You disgusting sack of crap. How dare you punch a thirteen year old in the stomach and brutally torture another young girl like that? Not even the most sick and twisted people I've met in my time as a member of Organization XIII was nearly as disgusting as you. If these chains are ever undone, when I'm finished with you… Hell will seem like paradise."

Tahlia and Xunahs stared at Dyme in stunned silence and Maderas merely chuckled at his threats. "You flatter me, Dyme. I would give you the same treatment as the girl down there, but I don't see the point in killing all of my prisoners right away."

He walked out of the dark room silently and called out, "Antoire? Come here. I need you to bind an escaped prisoner to the ground. Please, don't kick her. She's had enough…" There was a moment of silence, Amtoire said something, and Maderas chuckled again. "Fine, if you insist. Just be sure you don't kill her."

* * *

"Okay, so the demon is in this cave… It's funny how the guy in the picture ALMOST looks like Xigbar, but is totally different." Kevin flipped over the paper and raised an eyebrow as he looked at the second picture and murmured, "Well how did I not notice that? It's Dyme… But he looks a bit different, younger… Maybe it's Demyx? But why would Maderas want me to rub out Organization XIII?"

* * *

And now for Questions and Answers with Marie Suzette!

Marie: Uh.. Welcome to tonight's segment of the show. Man, that Superior guy is really something. I really can't tell if he's saying all of that crap to get us to think he actually _made_ everything happen, or if he is just stealing the credit from Kee.

**Well, I wouldn't like that.**

Marie: Yes… Exactly. Anyways, letter from 35 year old Charlotte from Earth. _"Superior is evil."_ Thank you for your insight Charlotte!

Marie: And… Next letter is from 22 year old Ale from… Doesn't say what world he's from. Oh well. _"Dear Marie, just wondering something, why did Axel act so oddly last story? It was obvious that he was working with you, but he's too magnificent of a bastard to stoop to being someone's lackey."_ Well, my powers work oddly in that they get stronger or weaker depending on how powerful the flow of magic from the world I'm on is. So, basically if I'm in a modern Earth-like setting, where magic doesn't exist, my powers will be virtually gone, with the odd butterflies popping out of mid-air. Or, if I'm on a world with a strong magical flow, my powers'll be stronger, and the closer I get to the source of that world's magic, the stronger I become in that regard. So, basically I find Axel on his homeworld, make him my wonderful mindslave, and go back to my fortress and get him to do my work for me in luring people over to said fortress. I did that about a year prior to the events of A New Light, so I did it shortly after Axel left Castle Oblivion, making him become a hopeless woobie for Roxas, and watched the fireworks from there, not realizing the fact that I took away Axel's ability to plan and be badass. I almost canceled the project, but I kept on going after he left me a little surprise in the form of Roxas, who had immunity to my powers for some reason.

Marie: And that's it. Lochit and… Ashlee will be taking QA next chapter! –walks out- YO BUTCH, WHERE'S MY CHECK?

Riku: Told you Sora.


	10. Disrespect

Author's Note: Hi there. I'm sorry about the late update yet again. I am currently working on remaking Kingdom Hearts: A New Light. And well, that name is a bit of a mouthful, so I'm going to rename it Dawn (that is, when I put up the new and updated version) stay tuned for the release of Dawn, I plan on getting every chapter finished before I start uploading. There will be major revisions to plot and characterization. Most of the personalities will stay the same, except for the odd exception of people that don't have personalities. There will be many tweaks, as I said, but I am positive they will be for the better. I already have some people looking into my progress to tell me whether it works or if I should fix whatever I get down. I'm actually pretty stoked and ask that when it goes up, everyone reads Dawn, because well... it'd make the upcoming plot in Noon less confusing.

And on that note, updates for Noon will take more time so that I can chapters in Dawn done in time for the end of Noon, hopefully. At the current rate I'm going for punching out new chapters for Noon, I might need to just go back to putting out new chapters when I finish them, that way I don't procrastinate (funny story about that, I'll probably tell it later).

Anyways, on with the show!

* * *

Chapter Ten: Disrespect

"It's a room full of treasure… Marie, did you have anything to do with that?" Riku asked the girl accusingly.

"Perhaps... But now isn't the time for questions, now is the time for plunder!" She ran past Sora and Riku, leaped high into the air and landed on a large pile of doubloons. Marie gave a joyful yelp as she pulled out a jewel encrusted sceptre and hugged it tightly.

"Do I get to keep it?"

"Did you make it?"

"...Yes."

"You just answered your own question."

"Ahem." The two looked up at Sora, who was standing at the entrance of Marie's treasure trove and said, "Yeah?"

"We have a visitor; it's that robed guy again. Riku, you ready?"

"I was born ready." The teen replied, smirking at his childhood friend.

"You aren't the only one. So guys, let's get this show on the road. I want to meet Donald Duck and Goofy. It's kinda been a childhood dream of mine, actually."

She wrote something in her book, snapped it shut and a golden rapier with thin silver bands twining around the blade to its tip appeared in her hand and a golden shield with a silver rose on it appeared in her other hand. The girl walked down to the other two gracefully and turned around to face Vince, who stood at the top of a mountain of jewellery.

"So, are you going to run away this time? We came to talk to the demon vampire at the top of the castle, and you are in our way, so take us to him or die." The girl growled at him.

Sora and Riku looked at her with surprise and back up at Vince. Sora leaned forwards and asked, "Uh, Marie... did he do something to you that we aren't aware of?"

"It's none of your business." She replied, hardly loud enough for the two teens to hear.

"Hmm... you want to see the master so bad? Well I can't let you visit him, he's deciding if he wants roast duck or baked... whatever that thing is on a pizza... he has odd eating habits... is that thing a dog or a horse... whatever."

He jumped off the pile of gold and landed in front of the three. He summoned his scythe and swiped at Marie's feet. She jumped above it and smashed his arm away with her shield while she was dropping and lunged forward, thrusting her rapier at his chest.

A thick stone shot from one of the walls and knocked the rapier out of her grasp and a second rock smashed into her shield, denting it and breaking her hand. She stumbled back, holding back tears and hugged her broken hand against her arm after dropping the shield. Sora blocked another rock coming for Marie with Kingdom Key and Riku dashed behind Vince and slashed Way to the Dawn at his back.

Vince turned around and parried the attack with his scythe and kicked Riku in the gut, knocking him back. The Nobody raised the scythe, ready to swing it at the teen's head, but was smashed aside by Kingdom Key. Sora ran over to Riku and helped him to his feet and jumped away from a rock as it flew for his head. The Keybearer looked over where the rock had come from and launched a barrage of firaga spells at the wall they came from.

"Riku, there's someone else in here. You take care of the guy with the scythe, and I'm going to find out who this other person is."

"What about Marie?"

"She made a barrier for herself, she should be safe."

"Okay then."

* * *

"Hmhmhm... so, my minions for hire are working quite nicely. Thank you, Halixat."

"Oh, it was no big deal. I just had to trick those guys from the Dark Court into grabbing Tom and I got Vince trapped. That kid is just pretending to be weak though, he gave me a run for my money, and I can't see why they're trying to execute him... he's kinda cute, actually." She replied.

"I just hope you won't be too upset if he comes back with a few injuries."

"Oh no, I love 'em soft and tender." She licked her lips to add emphasis, which made the other laugh. "Of course you do."

* * *

"So, Sora... you did you come to rescue me? Or did you just forget me? I can't blame you; we've only known each other for a month." Sora looked around, the gold was gone and he was in a cave, there was no sign of Riku or Marie. "What did you do? Where is everyone?"

"Oh come on Sora, that's no way to address me after leaving me behind, ignoring me cry for help when I got surrounded and beaten. It was humiliating. I don't think you can be forgiven for that."

"Tom...?"

"The one and only!" Sora rolled out of the way of a rock that was aimed for his head and threw Kingdom Key in the direction the rock came from. It reappeared in his hand and he yelled, "Enough playing around, show yourself!"

He froze as something cold and sharp rested against the back of his neck. "Oh, if you insist. If you manage to see my face without cutting your head off, I'll have to applaud you."

Sora rolled forwards and bounced up onto his feet. He turned around to face Tom, whose skin was pale and his face was gaunt as if he hadn't eaten for days. His eyes were sunken in and the pupils were small red dots, surrounded by black.

"Tom, are you okay? You look sick." The teen asked hesitantly, stepping back.

"And yet, I've never felt better, Sora." Tom replied, smiling to show a set of pearly white teeth with two prominent fangs coming from his top row of teeth.

He disappeared from sight and Sora was suddenly lifted off the ground as if a train had slammed into his chest and he was thrown into the wall and the stones crumbled away from where his body hit the wall. He fell to the ground and looked up weakly to see Tom move so quickly, it almost seemed as if the Nobody were gliding.

The Nobody picked Sora effortlessly by the hood and looked the Keybearer in the eyes and licked his lips. "Yes, I can see why he desires your assistance." He flung Sora at the wall on the opposite side of the cavern and glided after him. He landed silently in front of the teen and picked him up again. "However, that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have my fun, first."

He swore as something smashed his arm and he turned around to face a suit of armour. He dropped Sora and punched the armour clean through with his right hand and withdrew his arm. "If I knock you down, you stay down."

He raised an eyebrow after the armour didn't topple backwards and Marie stepped around it and said, "Surprise!"

She punched at the air in front of her and the armour copied her motion, striking Tom in the face. She continued her assault on the air with a flurry of punched and kicks while the armour did the same to the Nobody.

She kneed the air with her right knee and the armour copied her motion, launching Tom into the air. She jumped high up and spiked an imaginary volley ball while the armour did the same, throwing the Nobody into the hard ground. She relinquished her hold on the armour by writing something in the book, watched the pieces fall lifelessly on top of the fallen Nobody, pinning him to the ground and rushed to Sora's aid.

"You scratch my back, I scratch yours. Now let's get out of here before he wakes up!" The girl helped Sora to his feet and gave him an elixir and led him out through a hole in the wall.

"He isn't from this world; my book didn't work on him. Do you know who he was?" She asked.

"He's Tom, a friend of mine from back home. Something's wrong with him... we should help him out."

"We can't, I have a feeling the demon vampire had something to do with Tom's current problem. You need to get some rest, and I'll stay with you. For some reason, Tom's gunning after you."

* * *

Riku spun around and slashed his Keyblade at Vince, who blocked it with his scythe and the runes glowed an eerie crimson as the blade slid across it.

"Enough fooling around. You've had your fun, now it's my turn!" The teen jumped at Vince, only to smash his head into the ceiling. He groaned and pushed himself off of the ceiling and floated towards the ground, past random jewels.

_So, he screwed around with the gravity? That's a problem._ He ducked away from the scythe and thrust his left hand out and grabbed Vince's robe and yanked him towards himself. The teen then spun around and launched the Nobody at the wall and leaped off the ground, rapidly firing dark firagas at the Nobody and slammed his elbow into Vince's chest.

The Nobody fell to the ground and landed on his hands and knees. He clutched at his chest in pain and looked up at Riku, who was getting ready to decapitate him with Way To The Dawn.

"What? You're the hero! You don't kill your enemies when they're down!"

"I'll be sure to remember that for future reference."

Just as he was about to swing Way to the Dawn and remove Vince's head with the Keyblade, a portal opened beneath the Nobody and sucked him through. He turned around to see Marie holding Sora and giving him a hi-potion. The Keybearer ran over to the other two to see the damage.

"What happened to him?" Riku asked, kneeling next to his friend.

"He got beaten up by Tom. I'm guessing the shock of learning that one of his friends was against him stopped him in his tracks, making him hesitant in opening a can of whoop-ass. How'd you do?"

"He got away."

"Oh well, he'll come back." She said. Sora got up and stretched like he had woken up from a year long nap and said, "Yeah. Let's just keep going, we need to get up to the demon vampire before it's too late. Marie nodded vigorously and got to her feet.

The girl walked towards the mountain of gold that Vince had been on when he first appeared in the room she made and saw there was a dark spot up in the wall the gold was resting aganist. She pointed at it and said, "We go that way. It goes up, I can just tell." She turned to face the others, who were getting up and said, "What're you waiting for?"

She pulled out her book and wrote something in it, stepped back so that she was in between Sora and Riku and snapped it shut. The two boys tensed to maintain their balance as the ground trembled as a stone stairway rose out of the ground to the hole. "I figured it'd be easier for us to get up there with the stairs. Sora's injured, so climbing up the gold would probably put too much strain on his legs."

She trotted up the stairs, humming a merry tune. Sora looked at Riku and whispered, "She's having too much fun..."

Riku sighed and followed Marie, ignoring Sora's comment. Sora blew a raspberry at the other teen's back and followed him up the stairs.

* * *

"Jasmine!" Xaldin whirled around to see a teenaged demon holding what looked very much like a Keyblade. "You know this girl?" He asked in a monotonous voice. The demon nodded at him and said, "Yeah I do. Let her go now."

"Hey you jerk, he isn't holding me hostage! I can kick his ass, watch!" To prove her point, Jasmine planted the toe of her steel-toed boot in Xaldin's hindquarters and ran past him to the demon's side. "But, the distraction was very much needed, so I guess I need to thank you for at least something. So, thanks Kevin."

"Yeah, whatever. So, this is the great Whirlwind Lancer and his plucky sidekick, The Melodious Nocturne?"

"That'd be them." She replied.

"Good. I have only one suggestion."

"What?"

"We turn tail and run like the Devil's after us."

"Why?"

"Because if we were to kill these two, our present could be screwed up somehow."

"You mean when we kill them."

"No, we aren't killing them, you boob."

"You're the boob."

"And you don't have any."

"And yours are too big!" She snapped.

Demyx looked from the arguing couple and to Xaldin. "Uh, what do we do about them?"

"That demon has no heart. It's a Nobody."

"So, you think we should take him to the superior?"

"Of course."

Kevin yelped as a lance brushed under his chin and ducked away from the other five that were accompanied by a blast of wind. He launched a ball of lightning at Xaldin and ran past the spears, summoned Vortex and thrust it at his gut. The Nobody had barely enough time to get away from the attack.

The teen spun in a circle once and threw his Keyblade at Xaldin and jumped away from another two spears that flew at him. Vortex reappeared in his hand and he used it to block another spear that flew at him. He grabbed its shaft and plunged it into the wall.

Xaldin's eyes narrowed as the teen jumped back and raised his hand in the air and a maniacal grin crept across his face. "Fwahahaha! It's over! THUNDER!"

The teen paled and he slowly lowered his hand and started backing away. "Oh crap... oh crap oh crap oh crap..."

"Heh, hey Xaldin, he's more of a wimp than I was when I first started!" Demyx cheered, which got an annoyed glare from Kevin.

"Oh really water boy? Then tell me, how do you like this?!" The teen roared as he raised both hands in the air, waiting for a moment for his dramatic lightning to make his awesome transformation all the more cooler, which never came.

* * *

"So, you failed your at your job just because both of you couldn't find the strength in yourselves to defeat two separated Keyblade Wielders? I had hoped that after three years, my unlucky streak with minions would have halted, but _no, _instead, I have two bumbling fools that can barely figure out how to incapacitate a young girl that acts like she forgot to take her daily medication and ate pocky all day at an anime convention! At least I have a partner with me that is competent, and she decided to save you Vince. Me, I would have left you for dead, but Halixat insisted. Consider yourself lucky!"

"Listen buddy, you aren't fooling anyone with that shouting and threatening of yours. Maybe you should go back to the Netherworld and let the real demons deal with these heroes." The Heartless drawled, waving her hand at the vampire beside her like he was an annoying fly.

"How dare you! I will not allow such ignorance from a _child_."

"Yeah, and guess what buddy? The last few _children_ you worked with were pretty ignorant of your status too. You're a sham, I'm only helping you because it is entertaining." She looked away from the demon and turned her attention to the two Nobodys that were waiting for further instruction. "Vince, Tom, go back down there and take them out one at a time. I'll send some help down there with you to keep the other two busy. Get the girl first, and make sure she's dead. She'd make a useful collection to my army."

"What?! I lead this operation, since when were you in charge?"

"Hon, you were never in charge. Didn't you listen to me?"

The demon growled and balled his hands into fists. "You bitch!" He swung his fist at her head, which she caught with her left hand without so much as looking at him. She squeezed his hand tightly and the two Nobodys stepped forward to assist her. She sighed and said, "What're you two still doing here? Get going and get me some more eternal slaves."

They bowed, showing which one out of the two they respected and faded from sight. Halixat clenched her teeth, showing her rows of sharpened teeth and said, "Listen, all you have here is the ability to speak, and even that is limited. Don't cross me, I'm not very nice when I'm angry."

She placed her right hand on his armpit and grabbed, spun around and threw him at the wall. "If you want to deal with those kids yourself, wait until Tom and Vince get back again. I know they aren't going to do it, but I am hoping Sora or Riku can kill Tom, if that happens, it could cause some friction between the them and Kevin's group, they might even fight each other, and I'll just swoop down to pick off the survivors."

"Kevin...?" The demon wheezed. "You mean a young man, brown hair, tall and frustrating to deal with?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"I see..."

* * *

"Brr! Who turned up the AC?" Marie asked as she walked behind the two teens down the long, moon light illuminated corridor. The three froze as a familiar coppery scent met their nostrils. "Free Magic, be careful, my magic won't work in here." Marie whispered.

Riku scowled and said, "Mine won't either. This stuff blocks off everything we have."

"Oh! Thank you so much for pointing out the fatal flaw in your abilities!" Everyone looked up at the rafters and saw Vince jump down and land in front of them. Tom walked out of the shadows and stood next to him, casting Marie a venomous scowl.

"That's right. But it would only make sense, wouldn't it Vince? Our magic won't work in here either, unless we can bend the Free Magic to our will... however, we do have an advantage, and that's our natural abilities. If you call what happened to us _natural_." Tom said, not taking his eyes off of the girl.

"Heh."

Tom looked over at Sora and asked, "What's so funny, Keybearer?"

There was a flash of silver light and Sora began floating, his clothes were suddenly silver, and Marie and Riku were gone.

"Oh, it's nothing. Unless you two being at a serious disadvantage counts as something."

"Hm. So, this is the Final Form thing Superior has been warning us about. Bring it on, pretty boy." Vince said thoughtfully.

"And Oblivion and Oathkeeper... They look even more stunning, bathed in that silver light." Tom muttered.

Lightning from outside flashed, accenting the shadows in the corridor and the smell of Free Magic intensified. The shadows came to life, looking like giant, skinny humans and glided swiftly towards Sora. "Shadow Hands are a problem when they're normal sized. Have fun when they're grande." Vince said and turned his back on Sora. The other Nobody grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and said, "You're staying. We have orders to fulfill."

"Right you are, Thomas. Okay, let's get it on." Vince dashed through the Shadow Hands that surrounded Sora only to get thrown back by a Keyblade to the chest. The Shadow Hands began to vanish as beams of light streaked all around their bodies and they all disappeared, leaving Sora exactly where he was, looking as though he hadn't broken a sweat.

"Hmm... your little trick is more useful than I gave credit for; it even dispelled the Free Magic. Interesting." Tom sank into the ground and popped out of it behind Sora. He grabbed him by the neck and was about to toss him to the ground when both Keyblades slammed into his sides, throwing him away. Sora whirled around to face the Nobody and darted towards him, leaving a white trail behind, the two Keyblades spinning like buzz saws in front of him as the gap between him and Tom quickly shrunk.

The Nobody stared at Oathkeeper as if he were studying its movements, and just as it was a foot away from his face, he lunged forward, grabbed it by the handle, spun around and smashed it into Oblivion, sending it flying away. He then spun around again to kick Sora in the face, sending the Keybearer backwards through the air.

The teen gasped as his head connected with the stone pillar on the other end of the hall and he began to fall unconscious, the silvery light around him flickered, once, twice and it was gone. Marie and Riku were back at his side, looking stunned.

"Hmph. Apparently Superior overestimated Sora's 'Final Form'." He walked over to Sora and knelt before him. "I'm pretty hurt I didn't see that trick during our one month hiatus. Oh well, you won't have anything to worry about soon, unless you won't be kept in a half-dead state while Superior experiments on you for whatever reason he may have."

He paused thoughtfully for a moment and his large axe appeared in his right hand. He stood up, holding the weapon high above his head. "Perhaps I should make this my first merciful act under Halixat's employ."

_Riku, do you see that? Your friend is about to die a grizzly death. Do you really want that to happen? Move your feet, boy._

Riku frowned angrily and tried to shake his head, but he was frozen in place.

_What a bad time for you to show up. I don't need your help Xehanort, butt out!_

_Oh? Well, tell that to the boy with the axe and his friend that's binding you in place. Just let your darkness out a bit so that you can save your friend. Remember the King's words? Darkness doesn't necessarily mean evil._

_But yours does!_

_But does yours, Riku? Right now, your body is too battered and bruised for you to possibly defeat either one of those two, let alone defend Sora. If you want to let your friend slip away for good, that is fine by me, but will your conscience allow it?_

_No, of course not! There has to be another way, though._

"Argh!" Riku's eyes snapped open and he jumped up, somehow the binding had stopped. Sora was nowhere to be seen and Tom was on the floor, breathing heavily, trying to pull the axe he was holding moments ago out of his gut and Vince was being beaten down by a quickly moving shadow.

_Even the hero of light will allow the darkness out if it means he will survive. And yet, you hesitated._

He ignored Xehanort's comment and helped Marie up. "We need to stop him before he gets out of control!" She cried.

Anti-Sora stopped his assault on the Nobody and turned to face the two teens and advanced to them curiously, leaving a quivering, beat up Vince behind. Riku smacked his forehead and summoned Way to the Dawn. "Sora, stay back. I don't want to hurt you."

The teen's head tilted to the side as if he were inspecting them. He looked away from Riku and looked at Marie for a few seconds, and as she began backing away, he pounced on her.

Suddenly, he was halted in mid-air by a pale hand. More of the body it belong to materialized out of the darkness until a black haired, teenage boy was standing there in a black shirt and pair of jeans.

"Well, I have to admit that patience is indeed a good virtue. I've been waiting a long time to take this darkness for myself. He looked casually at the four other people around him and Sora and said, "Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting something."

Sora thrashed in the other Heartless' grip, trying to break free. The other simply frowned and tightened his grip around his neck, saying "Stupid beast. You aren't worthy of the darkness inside you."

Darkness exploded out from the two and in a few moments, was sucked into the Heartless holding onto Sora, who was back to normal and still unconscious. He let go of Sora as if he were a dirty rag and walked over to Tom, looked at him for a few moments and ripped out the axe. He handed the Nobody a potion and disappeared without leaving a trace behind.

"Funny..." Maire murmured, "that almost takes the point out of everything that just happened...."

* * *

"Well, this is different."

"I concur; I think this is the first time I ever did this."

"I do believe you one-upped Demyx. Good job, Kevin."

"Pssht, it's in my job description."

"What job?"

"No idea, but this is very cool."

Kevin was completely covered in water. His clothes were all deep blue and his face was pale as if he had drowned. Demyx and Xaldin stepped back from the hulking mass of water that stood at eight feet and Kevin slid the entity surrounding him forwards by using his mind. "This is too cool." He said, grinning.

"Xaldin, I think we should turn back."

He looked around frantically for his superior and cried, "Xaldin? Xaldin! Where did you go?" A thick tendril of water smashed the ground in front of him, making him trip backwards through the portal Xaldin had escaped through.

The water around Kevin evaporated and he dropped to the ground. He heaved a sigh and turned around and saw Maderas standing right behind him. Jasmine was nowhere to be seen.

"I see your fission mailed."

"What?"

"What?"

"My 'fission mailed'?"

"I didn't say that..."

"Whatever. Do continue."

Maderas clenched the arm rests of the chair tightly, making his already pale knuckles turn whiter. "I don't accept failure or disrespect. You can consider your contract terminated and..." He was cut off as a busty, scantily clad demon floated into Maderas' room and said, "Sir! The prince and his vassals are here, they want to fight you!"

Maderas got up and followed the demon out of the room, ignoring Kevin entirely and he was all alone. He grinned, stood up and went up to a wall that had a barely noticeable black outline and shoved his foot through it.

"Sorry it took me so long, guys."

* * *

Now for Q and A with A and L!

Lochit: Sweet, I'm L! Ashlee, you be Kira. You have the laugh and love of potato chips for it to work.

Ashlee: No, I'd rather be Mello. Mainly because I prefer chocolate and having people be unable to guess my sex.

Lochit: Zing!

Ashlee: Indeed. But, let's get on with our questions, shall we?

Lochit: Yes! *grabs letter* This one comes from Sara of Earth. _Dear Lochit, I wanted to point out that I think you are the most awesome character in the series, also I find it cool (and slightly odd) that you and Tom are the only two that have the same abilities as your Heartless counterparts._

_Keep on kicking ass,_

_~Sara._

Lochit: Well, thank you Sara! I am glad you offer your support, and I believe you are right about Tom and I. That's kinda funny, now that I think about it. And yes, I do fully intend on kicking ass, even when I'm old and wrinkly.

Ashlee: Well that sucks; you have your own fanclub. I don't have one D:

Lochit: Oh, what can I say? It's just my natural sex appeal that brings the fans of both sexes coming in droves.

Ashlee: *resists pointing out double entendre*

Lochit: Ash, are you okay?

Ashlee: *deep breath* Yeah. Don't worry about me, let's get my letter going. This is from Garth from... doesn't say where. Odd... _Dear Ashlee, I was wondering something... how do you know about Charter Magic, how do you have a mark, and how did you manage to reverse time back when Raynx killed your friends?_

Ashlee: Well, this is more fitting of a Q and A corner. The Charter Magic thing is strange, I don't remember _learning_ anything about it, and it just came to me after I got separated from my family. Honestly, in future chapters, you'll see that many people's lives were changed to varying degrees ten years ago, during the time of the Heartless Invasion of Radiant Garden. And I don't have any answers to your time question, Garth. It just came naturally to me, like the Charter Magic. Think about it, with all we know about human nature, we still haven't scratched the surface of what the human mind is capable of. Maybe when those secrets are unlocked, people'll be able to do all sorts of things. Maybe that's what magic _is_, the unlocking of the secrets of the human mind and its after effects.

Lochit: *blinks* Wow, you gave that a lot of thought, didn't you?

Ashlee: I think about things like that all the time.

**As do I.**

Lochit: Interesting... anyways, this is almost turning into more of a chat group, maybe we should tweak this whole Q and A thing a bit. And before we go, Tom will take on the questions solo next time. See you in chapter eleven!


	11. Gullible

Chapter Eleven: Gullible

Kevin walked through the hole he made in the thin wall and was about to make another witty comment when a small rock was flung at his forehead. He rubbed the bump made by the projectile and muttered something under his breath as he cautiously walked into the makeshift prison.

He saw Xunahs, who had somehow launched the rock at his head, despite being bound to the wall and took the gag out of his mouth. He saw Dyme and Tahlia, but Lochit was gone. "Where's Lochit?" He asked.

Xunahs scowled at him and said, "Try looking down."

The Nobody did so and stepped back. "Did Maderas do that to her?" He asked. The teenager nodded his head slowly and looked away from Lochit. Kevin knelt down and checked for her pulse. He sighed with relief and got back up. "Well, she's alive. Are the other two asleep?"

"Yeah."

"What happened to her?"

Xunahs choked slightly when his adoptive brother asked the question and closed his eyes. "She had gotten mad at him and challenged him. He beat her easily and did the same thing I did when I was running away from Raynx after he and Halixat resurrected me."

"So, he mindraped her?"

Xunahs' lip twitched at the way Kevin put her diagnosis and said, "Yeah. She was knocked out, and she didn't move at all. I thought she was dead."

"Hmm... I see..." Kevin turned around to face the hole he made. "I'm going. Do you want to help me out?"

"Huh?"

"I'm itching to kick some ass, Xunahs. Do you want to come with me or not?"

"Hi there, boss."

Maderas whipped around to face Kevin, who was standing in the narrow cavern he had wandered along to get into Maderas' house. "What do you want, brat?"

"Oh, nothing much. You see, I don't support the abuse of my friends, demon. Leaving me behind was a fatal decision on your part."

"Why should you care? You're a Nobody! Caring is the last thing you _things_ do."

"Why should I care? I don't know. You tell me, Maderas. Please explain to me why I should care about my friends being beaten within an inch of their life? Tell me why I should care about my friends getting their mind shattered by an egotistical maniac."

He stopped for a moment, letting the words sink in. "Maderas, if you think that I will sit idly by while bullshit like this happens, you are sadly mistaken. Nobodys can't emote, you're right. That doesn't mean that we don't have our own sense of justice. We can't emote, but I have learned something, getting pissed off is still a very possible thing."

There was a loud thunderclap that echoed throughout the icy tunnel and Vortex appeared in the boy's hand and Maderas began backing away, until he bumped into someone that was blocking his way. He turned around to see Xunahs with his arms crossed and looking very angry. He walked backwards and bumped into Kevin. "Another thing. Nobodys don't care about sympathy, and because of this curse some Overlord put on me, I'm slowly becoming a demon, and the thought of being merciless is becoming more and more pleasing with each passing second. Tell me, how does it sound to have this electrically charged blade enter your body at an angle so that both your stomach and lungs are ripped open by its fork lightning shaped blade, and then to have it slowly pulled out, the small forks ripping chunks of flesh out with it while Xunahs here holds you back so that you can't fight me off? Before, I would have said that, turned around and vomited at the thought. Now, it's almost... appealing."

"You don't frighten me!" The demon cried.

"Ha... that's funny, you're funny. How about this, you go find Laharl and Etna, beat them and come back to me. We'll see how scared you are of me then."

Xunahs stepped aside as Maderas ran away like a frightened rabbit and glared at him coldly as he disappeared around the bend. Both he and Kevin stopped scowling and sighed with relief.

"My God, I thought you were actually going to skewer him with that oversized key of yours!"

"Nobodys are great actors, what can I say? Actually, I know what we can say. We need to get Lochit out of here. She needs rest in a safer environment than an underground dungeon."

"Right. Let's go back."

* * *

"So, how long do you think it will take them to get past Tom and Vince?" Halixat asked, leaning over the railing in the centre of the room, looking down a black pit that lead straight to the ground floor of the castle. The vampire noticed her eyes darting back and forth as if she were following the movements of the fighters down below.

"What's with the design of this room anyways? I mean really, all it really is is a giant circular room with hugeass glass-lacking windows. It's virtually screaming 'throw me out of here o noble hero of the light!'"

"What makes you think they'll get past Tom and Vince?" The vampire replied.

Halixat moved away from the railing she was leaning against and turned to face the two old men. "Because that's how it works. No matter how super mutated you make those super mutants or how many superpowers you give those supervillains, they'll never be enough for the hero and his two plucky sidekicks. Maybe you should have abducted either Donald _or_ Goofy instead of both, I mean really, four always means death. Three means they'll kick your ass, and the moment one of them gets in this room, I am gone."

* * *

"Hahaha…" Everyone except for an unconscious Sora looked over to see Vince stagger onto his feet.

"I've… been treated like a punk for too long… like the most disposable person. I am tired of it… ever since I was a kid; my brother would push me around and make me do all the grunt work… 'You are too stupid to make a coherent plan.' He said, 'you're too weak to punch through a thin sheet of tin foil.' He said… no more of that. I'll show that bastard and all of you just what I can do…"

"What's his beef?" Marie asked as she backed away from the Nobody.

"My guess would be that past traumas have somehow made him snapped at a very inopportune time." She and Riku looked over at Tom, who was back to his normal self.

"You're back on our side?"

"Definitely."

"Hm… he sure is like Xunahs, he gave a similar speech when he snapped." A young girl walked down the flight of stairs behind Vince and casually walked past him and stood in front of him. "It's pretty interesting, wouldn't you say? It's because of 'Superior' that this kid exists in our dimension. He came from that same place I and a common enemy lived in. Funny story is that only I remember this. Vince and our friend don't seem to remember a lick of anything. I'm sure when they're exposed to the right things; the memories will come back though."

"And why are you telling us this, Halixat?" Tom asked.

"Because it's entertaining to watch you guys wonder just what you could be facing next. First it'll be a kid with low self esteem, next maybe some daddy's girl with the power of nothingness at her fingertips. Heck, who knows? Maybe you'll run into Cthulhu… doesn't sound fun, actually."

Halixat was going to continue, but suddenly she felt a bit light on the right side. She looked down at her feet, feeling very uneasy and saw her arm fading away. She whipped around, glaring furiously at Vince. "What the fuck are you doing, you moron? Are you as blind as you are incompetent? Attack them, not me!" She shrieked.

She only had to take one look at his glowing red eyes to realize she made a very bad decision.

* * *

"Where do you think we should take her?" Xunahs asked anxiously, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet in Maderas' study. Dyme and Tahlia were sitting in a soft and well decorated couch, watching the three in the middle of the room. Lochit was propped in a chair, her breathing was shallow and she was running a fever.

"I don't know… I really don't. Maybe we should take him to Laharl's castle. Guys, your opinions?"

Tahlia started snoring again and Dyme was just holding his head. "Yeash, shure… do whathever you theenk worksh…"

_Man, what a slur._ "Did he drug them?" Kevin asked his brother.

"Not that I know of…"

"Well that's upsetting. Maybe he did something with their minds?"

"That could have happened… maybe when we were asleep. I'm pretty good at blocking that sort of stuff out… maybe I can do it unconsciously."

"Yeah…" The teen sighed and held his head in his hands. "Man, I wish that… that blonde haired girl was here… she could tamper with memories… wasn't her name Naming or something? Wait… Namine… yeah, Namine."

"I guess that's the curse screwing with your memory… we need to figure out a way around that before it's too late." The teen's adopted brother said, looking around the room, which he just realized, was full of books. He smacked his forehead and said, "Maybe there's something in here that can tell us about the curse and how to get rid of it."

"What else can you remember?"

"What?"

"I don't know, just a test to see what's being forgotten."

"…That's just stupid, how would you be losing your memory, but know what you're forgetting? If you know you're forgetting something that means you aren't actually forgetting it, your mind is just screwing around with you."

"But if you forget that you forgot, wouldn't that also mean forgetting that something you forgot when you forget everything you forgot until everything you forgot is something you've forgotten?" Dyme asked in his heavily slurred voice.

Tahlia yawned and stretched, waking up from her nap and said, "Wasn't the priority here to get Lochit to a safe place and not reminisce on memories?"

"Right. I think that we should be safe here. We just need to get a wet cloth for Lochit's forehead and a bed for her to sleep on. Tahl, can you push Dyme off of the couch for us?"

She happily obliged and Xunahs and Kevin worked together to pick up Lochit and place her softly on the couch. Xunahs went to go find a blanket while Tahlia worked on waking Dyme up so he could get some water. Kevin stayed by Lochit's side, thinking.

_If I could enter her mind, maybe I could fix everything. Think, how do I do that again? I need to remember what I read and my training… c'mon brain, don't crap out on me now.

* * *

_

"Hmm… I think I might have found our ticket out of here, Kairi."

The girl looked up from her work and saw Ashlee prodding at one of the walls in the back corner of the cell and walked over to her. "What makes you think that?

"The wall is thinner over here… but it could be like that because it's a trap. That doesn't mean I don't have a backup plan, however."

"What would that backup plan be?" She asked.

"I won't tell just yet. Let's wait until we get our meal and we can check out the wall, okay?"

"Sure."

* * *

"So, Leashex, have they discovered the fault in the wall?" Venxik asked, standing on the Altar of Naught, staring up at the starry sky.

"Yeah, they're going to check it out after I get them their meal." She replied. "Has that thing been giving you any more trouble?"

The Heartless looked away from the starlit sky and at the other and asked, "What thing?"

"You know full well what thing, that... thing that's inside you. I can try to take care of it, you know. Coax it out and we can take care of it if it proves to be a threat to us." She said, looking sternly into his eyes.

"Why do you care?" He replied angrily.

"Because that thing, as long as it exists inside you, is a threat to us. Look at what it did to that cannon we made. And from what I heard, it gave Superior a sound whooping too, you're not safe, none of us are, as long as you're playing host for that thing."

"And how do you know it'll attack you and Somaxth?"

"Are you stupid, buddy? Your control of it slipped for two seconds and it destroyed something we were working on for months to prepare. It's chaotic! Whether it can think for itself or it's just some sort of ball of instinct, it won't be friendly the moment it takes you over, and it's barging in more and more often, it's a losing battle for you, Venxik. Just let me try to get rid of it."

Venxik looked away and growled something under his breath. Leashex, with a look of concern, stepped up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Is everything okay?" Before she had time to react, Venxik's fist slammed into her gut and launched her across the Altar. Interfecit appeared in his hand and he walked slowly over to the female Heartless, his eyes glowing an eerie gold.

"You're the threat. I will eliminate you before you get a chance." He hissed in a warped voice.

She got up onto her feet and summoned Chaos and Anarchy and held them at her sides, and walked in a circle around Venxik. "I'm not going to run. I'm going to show you what happens when you mess with my man."

She threw Chaos into the ground and black vines sprouted out of the ground, snaking towards Venxik. The Heartless jumped high into the air to avoid them and spread open his wings. The vines shot up from under him and he swerved to the right to avoid them as they rushed at him. Leashex jumped up from Behind Venxik as he avoided the vines and tried to strike his back with Anarchy.

The male Heartless vanished and the vines collided with Leashex, throwing her down to the ground. She rolled away from his foot as it crashed into the ground where her head was moments ago and sprung to her feet. _He's moving a lot slower than usual, maybe I have some more time than I thought_. Almost as if the thing controlling Venxik could read her thoughts, it grinned at her and scales grew all over his body, encasing him in black armour.

The girl's eyes widened as an excruciating pain erupted in her chest and she fell forwards, gasping for air. On the ground, she heard the soft clicking of the thing's taloned feet moving towards her and squeezed her eyes shut as his foot went on her head.

_Is this it?_ She thought weakly as the pressure on her head intensified.

The weight was thrown off her head and she saw Venxik tumble away, thrown back by a large rock. "Get away from her!" Somaxth yelled as he ran onto the Altar of Naught. He helped Leashex to her feet and offered her a hi-potion. "Sorry I couldn't get here sooner; I gave the girls their meal. What happened here?"

"That thing took over." She gasped after drinking the hi-potion. He swore under his breath and walked towards Venxik, who was getting up again, lifting the one tonne rock and throwing it off the tower like it were weightless.

"Venxik, snap out of it! I know you're in there somewhere!" Somaxth yelled in a commanding voice. The Heartless stopped its advance for a moment, chuckled in his warped voice. "Sorry, Venxik isn't here anymore. I'll be sure to let him know you wanted to talk..." It paused for a moment, as if pondering. "No, I'll let you speak with him in the afterlife instead. All threats must be eliminated, and as long as you exist, my existence is in jeopardy."

Somaxth bowed deeply, not keeping his eyes off of the Heartless. "I am pleased to know that you hold me in such high regards. But tell me, do you think, or are you just imitating sentient life as a camouflaging mechanism?"

"What?" Leashex asked. "Som, what're you talking about?"

"From what I've seen in Venxik's fights and this thing's fights while it's in control, it only fights to survive, attempting to kill only if it's threatened first. Since we're trying to bring Venxik back, it's threatened, and we're going to be killed if we can't get Venxik back in control soon."

"You sure do your homework." She muttered.

"What can I say; you always need a plan to kill anyone you meet. You never know when one of them will change sides."

"Crazy prepared son of a bitch."

"Compliment accepted... AGH!" He was flung backwards by a taloned foot to the chest and Leashex rolled out of the way of Interfecit and jumped up on to her feet.

"Such a strong determination. If only Venxik had a spirit half as strong as yours, he might have been here now." It said, making a laugh that sounded more like a demonic hiss.

"Shut up!" The female Heartless screamed. The platform they were on started shaking and darkness erupted around her, forming a giant pillar. The Dragon, controlling Venxik ran in and was thrown back by an invisible force.

"Get out of him this moment."

* * *

Venxik growled under his breath and sidestepped another slash made by the Dragon. _Damnit, I'm moving so slowly, he's wearing me out too quickly!_ He jumped back to avoid another swing of the Keyblade the Dragon was holding and ducked to avoid a kick to the head. _We've been fighting for the same amount of time and trying equally as hard, and he hasn't even broken a sweat!_

"And yet you are on your last leg. I'll have this body in seconds, and nothing will stop me from destroying _everything!_"

"But," Venxik panted, "you'll only act evil if you take over the body of someone that's good... you won't... good God I can't talk right now... too tired."

He ran sluggishly up to the Dragon and swung Interfecit at its head, only to have his sword parried and to be thrown to the ground. "Indeed, that is the case. But Venxik, for a Heartless, you aren't such a bad guy."

"...What?"

"I know more about you than you can even remember, your memories are rather hilarious, like those of a small child."

"What? What're you talking about?"

"I don't see any benefit in telling you. Now, let me take over, it will be quick and relatively painless, I promise."

It walked up to the Heartless, smiling triumphantly at its prey. Venxik just looked down, as if he was about to give up. The Dragon stepped up to him and used Betrayal to lift Venxik's chin so their eyes would meet. He pulled his free, clawed hand back and said, "It's over."

* * *

"ARGH!" The Dragon was launched back as a sphere of darkness slammed into his chest. His taloned feet skidded across the altar until he hit the edge. Leashex, with darkness blotting out everything about her except for her shape walked forwards. "Get away from me! Leave me alone!"

A black hand shot from the moving shadow and grabbed the thing's throat in a crushing grip.

* * *

The Dragon let out a surprised gasp as Venxik's hand clamped down on his throat and held him above the ground. "I'm sorry, you idiot. I don't lose, ever." Darkness began breaking away from the Dragon and entering Venxik. "I wonder, Dragon... what will happen to you when this is over?"

"What?"

"Heh. You heard me."

"Venxik, stop!" The Heartless stop absorbing the Dragon into himself and looked over to see the source of the voice. "Somaxth?"

"That's right. I learned how to enter minds, more on that later. Put the Dragon down right now." Somaxth said as he stepped out of the shadows in the back corner of the cave.

"Why?"

"Because it's different from everything else _alive_. It's not darkness, or light or nothingness. It's just primal instinct given a physical form. If you take that in, we'd have no choice but to kill you." The Heartless replied, hoping that the worst case scenario wasn't going to be the scenario here.

Venxik shook his head and returned to cleansing the Dragon. "No, I need more power. This thing'll give me what I need. I didn't spend all that time luring it out, only to lose the possibility of becoming even more powerful than ever before."

The Heartless scowled at Venxik, _Yeah. Worst case scenario_. "You did that on purpose?"

"Yep." Venxik said, looking away from the Dragon to face the other Heartless yet again.

"You endangered my life and Leashex's, just so that you could get _stronger?_" Somaxth asked, his voice rising with anger.

"That's the idea, yes."

The Heartless walked around a boulder, not taking his eyes off of Venxik, glaring at the other Heartless, ready to react to even the slightest movement he made. He paused when he got to the opposite side of the boulder and said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but that's inexcusable... LEASHEX, DO IT NOW!"

Venxik raised an eyebrow and asked," What are you talking about?" The entire area shook as if there was an earthquake and the ground started breaking away.

"You bastard! What have you done?!"

"This is what happens when a crippling blow is made against someone's mind. It leaves them comatose and living in a waking Hell for a day or two, but I have my theories that if you're in the mind when you get sucked in, it becomes much worse. Like I said to Leashex, I am prepared for every situation. While you're out of commission, I'll be running the show. Sweet dreams, Venxik."

The Heartless threw the Dragon into the growing black pit and screamed, "You son of a bitch, I'm going to kill you!" He lunged at Somaxth, just barely getting ahead of the collapsing projection of his mind and passed through the other Heartless just as he vanished. Just as the ground disappeared underneath him, he felt something tug at him and he was pulled deep into the black abyss, screaming furiously the entire way down.

_

* * *

_

_There we go!_ Kevin closed his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips. He entered Lochit's mind and probed the damage. _It's almost as if a tornado ran through here. Everything's all messed up... did this actually happen to me and Ashlee?_

He withdrew from the girl's mind and rested his chin on his elbows. _Her mind is screwed up, I can't do anything. Perhaps we need to take her to Alagaesia after all. Someone in the Varden can help, unless they died while we were gone... But how do we get back?_

He tensed as a hand was placed on his shoulder and he turned his head to face Xunahs. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I got in Lochit's mind, but it's a mess. She needs help, but I can't do anything, I think we need to get her to the Varden, but if we go there in this time and with our current bodies, we'd be killed on the spot, what with bearing a striking resemblance to demons. How do we get back to our time?"

"Do a barrel roll?" Kevin and Xunahs looked behind them to see Etna, Laharl and Flonne.

"How did you guys get in here?" The Nobody asked.

"I used to work with Maderas, duh." Etna said in a bored voice. "Now then, what's wrong with your friend there?"

"Didn't think you were the type to care." Xunahs mumbled.

"I asked her to come here after Maderas said there were people in here that were hurt." The angel trainee said while doing a slight curtsey. She gasped and said, "Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Flonne, I'm an angel trainee from Celestia."

"An angel trainee... you were sent here to assassinate the Overlord, right? What kind of person in their right mind would send someone as young and inexperienced as you on such a dangerous mission?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know why Seraph Lamington sent me... I wish I knew why he did. But, I think he can help your friend!" She said happily.

Kevin frowned and said, "Do you really think a group of demons would be allowed to meet up with a Seraph? I don't think it'd work like that. Sorry."

"Oh... right."

"Laharl... do you think we could stay at your castle to keep Lochit safe? Maybe your father kept some sort of book that can tell us what we need to know."

Laharl looked at Kevin, a cruel smile forming on his lips. Before the demon prince could sound the first syllable, Kevin knew what the answer was going to be.

"Sure, why not?"

Kevin looked up in shock. "I am officially confused right now. Someone _please_ explain what happened there."

"There's a catch... I just know it." Xunahs said in an aggravated voice.

"Correct! If you guys come with us, you're going to have to work really hard, and the Prinnies will command you! BWAHAHA!"

Kevin gaped at the prince, as did Xunahs.

"And no backsies, it's going to happen, and nothing will change my mind!"

"Laharl! Don't be so mean to them!" Flonne cried.

Xunahs shook his head and said, "No Flonne, it's okay. If it means I can keep Lochit safe, I'm okay with it."

"Love... demons do know love? I knew it! I knew it! Yay!" Flonne started a dance, which was promptly halted by Etna. "Sorry to bum you out kiddo, but these people are cursed humans. They just look like demons, that's all."

"I... see."

"Sorry Flonne, it's true. But if you are searching for love, don't give up. It exists in every being, as do hatred and sadness." Kevin said, smiling to give her support.

"And how would he know about that? He doesn't have a heart!" Etna cried.

Flonne's happiness was cut short once again by Etna's remark.

Xunahs glared at the demon and asked, "What the hell is your problem? Seriously!"

"Just proving a theory: Angels'll fall for anything."

"You... you're an awful person." Kevin said, in shock.

"I'm a demon, pretty boy. Don't mix the two up or you'll be sorry."

"She accepts me! Wheeee!"

"Oh, I'm going to kill you!"

"Try if you can, lardbutt."

"Wow... you'd think Nobodys would be more mature than that..." Xunahs muttered.

* * *

Halixat escaped through a portal, holding the stump of her arm, wincing in pain, making sure Vince didn't follow her. It closed behind her as she stumbled into the large circular room in the tallest tower and screamed in fury. "God damnit! This isn't fair! If that bastard of a Heartless didn't show up just then, my plan would have succeeded!" She jumped up onto the railing that surrounded the hole in the floor to keep people from falling down and sat on it.

"Halixat, I see you are doing well." The Heartless in question turned around from her perch on the railing to see Jesse and Nico standing in front of the vampire, Jesse looked smug, and Nico looked like he was in shock.

"Tell me, how are your plans going? How soon can you apprehend Sora?" The older of the two brothers asked.

Halixat ground her teeth in frustration and said, "Just a little longer. I almost had them right where I wanted them."

"Ah... funny you should mention that." Jesse said as he walked towards her, his smugness not leaving his features once. "You see, a spy told me you plan on using Sora as a pawn to destroy the remaining Keybearers in a confused brawl. Quite the opposite of what my master desires. So, in order to make sure our plan goes back on track, I will have no choice but to eliminate you. Nico, please take care of the trash."

Halixat spun around to face the vampire and gave him a quick jab in the throat. "You bastard! You betrayed me to _them_! Do you have any idea as to what they will do to you?"

"It wasn't me, I swear!"

Jesse smiled with his infuriating smugness still plain on his face. "That's quite true, Halixat. You have quite a faithful dog. No, I have left my own spies around the castle, most of them are here to watch after you and make sure you're staying in line. The others are to make sure Sora doesn't mess up or becomes too much of a threat to our plans. Now then, Nico, take care of her."

Before Nico could move, tall, slender creatures formed out of the shadows of the two Nobodys and herself, wrapping their long arms around their prisoners. More of them marched out of the walls, accompanied by the stench of Free Magic and held scythe-like arms against the throats of the two Nobodys. Halixat walked forwards and brushed the two shadows aside.

"Here's the scoop. I snap my fingers and you two lose your heads." She said, trying to keep her voice level. "However I need my right hand, which is now gone. I know that you Nobodys can't be scared, I just felt like giving you guys a heads up. Now then, I want you guys to chill out; I have a game for the two of you..."

* * *

"Sora, get down!" Sora ducked under a ball of darkness that Vince had shot at him and flashed Tom a thumbs-up. "I think we need to attack him from all sides. Marie, was it? Can you make a suit of armour again and attack Vince like you did to me in that small cave, only from behind? Riku and Sora, attack from the sides and I'll attack him from the front. I can take enough hits and keep him occupied while you guys take him down."

Without waiting for confirmation, Tom summoned his axe and ran towards Vince. He jumped out of the way of a wave of dark energy and slammed his axe into the ground, making a bunch of rocks fly up around him. He held up his hand and pushed forward, sending the stones flying at the other Nobody. He ran towards Vince and grabbed him roughly by the cloak and spun around. He let go, jumped back and ran forwards again, smashing his axe into the Nobodys back as he passed by, quickly turned around and did it again. As he kept doing it, he became faster and faster until he gained enough momentum to throw Vince up into the air. Sora and Riku jumped up from either side of him and smashed him hard on the head with their Keyblades, sending the Nobody to the ground and a large gauntlet plucked the Nobody out of the air and began squeezing him.

Vince's eyes opened and he looked wildly at the four people assembled. Marie stood there; holding her left hand out as if she were squeezing something and the Nobody started forcing the armoured hand open through sheer force. Sweat started pouring down the girl's face as she tried to hold the Nobody back, but her fingers were slowly being pried away from their invisible prisoner.

"Guys, do something now! I can't hold him back for much longer!"

* * *

Ashlee walked up to the wall and summoned Corona. "Okay Kairi, stand back. I need room for this." A fireball formed at the tip of her Keyblade and she launched it at the thin spot in the wall. It was blasted apart and the black city in the World That Never Was became visible to the two girls. Ashlee walked up to the hole and looked down and quickly pulled her head back in. "We can't get out that way. We're right above one helluva crater... where are we?"

Kairi walked up to the hole and breathed in the familiar air and sighed. "We're in the late Organization XIII's stronghold. I didn't recognize it because of the darkness everywhere changed how it looks and feels... I hope Sora can get here soon, I really don't like it here."

* * *

And now for Q and A with Tom!

Tom: Hello everyone. I have some news. The Q and A is getting taken out. It was a good idea for when it was first thought of, so instead, we're being given the opportunity at the end of each chapter to do whatever we want to do. However, I will still answer a question tonight, and we'll see how this new idea goes. Who knows, we might just go back to having an end of the chapter without anything too special happening... anyways!

Tom: _Dear Tom, I was wondering something. What's Lochit's bra size?_ This came from Henry, age fifteen, from Earth, by the way. Well, Henry. I am sorry to tell you that I have yet to see Lochit's bra or know what her size is. And I regret to inform you that I will not find out any time soon because I am too much of a gentleman for that sort of thing.

_Dear Tom, did you and Andrea do anything special? *wink wink, nudge nudge*_

-Andrea walks in- What the hell! Okay, this is over.

Tom: What? You're dead, aren't you?

Andrea: In the story, yes. But I was allowed to come here to help you with this Q and A thing they were doing. But yeah, who is the bastard that asked you that? I'll hurt him in the face... Lesse here... James... sixteen... Earth... Okay, James. You're on my list. Be sure to sleep with your eyes open tonight, buddy.

Tom: Oh... okay, I guess it's over. Until next chapter, good bye!

Andrea: Cyanide... dry ice... Sharks... Yes! Everything is even worse with sharks! Cyanide spitting sharks that shoot dry ice out of their eyes! –cackle-


	12. From Maid to Gladiator and Back

Author's Note: I am so very sorry for the lack of updates. It's inexcusable, I know. So please enjoy this double update from me to you.

Chapter Twelve: From Maid to Gladiator and Back

* * *

"What did I do to deserve this? I mean really... Xunahs was the one kicking puppies. Is that it karma? Am I guilty by association?" Kevin moaned as he stepped out from his room in the castle, looking at the hundred or so Prinnies that stood looking at him with malevolent joy.

"Uh, hey guys... nice to meet you all... uhm... I must ask a question, was the maid uniform necessary?" He scratched his arm nervously as they stared at him without saying a word. A fine sweat broke out on Kevin's forehead. _I see... so this is a battle of wits._ He stood at attention and crossed his arms across his chest, smirking at the group of Prinnies below. Of course, that was a bad idea, considering every single one of those Prinnies was a hardened criminal, or at least before they died and were put into their current forms.

Needless to say, Kevin made a bad choice in acting like he had any authority.

"Wahaha! Get away from me! Oh God no! My arm doesn't bend away! Get that bomb away from me!"

* * *

Xunahs sighed as the room he was in filled with light from the explosion. _Wow. I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to do that. Poor schmuck, at least I have kitchen duties._ He held back tears as a Prinny that was overseeing his progress smacked him on the back of the head and shouted, "No slacking off, dood! That's it; every Prinny has to redo the dishes courtesy of the new guy! Dood!"

There was a chorus of moaned 'doods' as the Prinny jumped up and pulled a rope that released a plug in the wall that dumped mud on the mountain of clean dishes. Xunahs got many angry glares from the Prinnies that were working along the sinks, cleaning their own dishes.

"Okay, guys. I'm sorry about that. I totally dropped the ball on that one. Let's let bygones be bygones and..." He paused. The Prinnies were all looking at him with a bone chilling I'm-going-to-stab-you look and he backed away slowly. "Seriously, don't hurt me. I bruise easily!" The Prinnies began their advance and in a desperate move, Xunahs picked up the overseeing Prinny above his head and yelled, "Don't come another step closer, I will throw him!"

"But I'm a girl dood!" She cried.

"Her, whatever. I'll do it!"

The Prinnies gasped and Xunahs smirked. _Oh yeah, plus one for Xunahs._ Something smacked him hard in the back and he fell forwards, the Prinny slipping from his hands and flying into the middle of the crowd.

"Oh shi-"

* * *

Tahlia let out a low whistle as an explosion in the kitchen wiped out the Prinny kitchen staff and Xunahs was launched out of the large room, smoke trailing behind him. She shuffled away from the pile of bricks that were going to be used to fix a hole in the wall made by Laharl when he got lost trying to find the washroom in the middle of the night before.

"Well, if they have no proof of me throwing the brick, I should just deny it." She muttered under her breath as she ran away.

* * *

"Heh... I don't have to do anything. Is this paradise or what? I'm finally being recognized for my rockstar quality!" Dyme said, sighing with content the Prinny massaging his back as he rested on the table pecked him in the spine. "Shut up dude! The moment our shift is over, Laharl is going to know about this, and he's going to kill you for going against his orders!"

"Or is he going to promote me because I went against my superiors like a true demon should?" Dyme replied smugly. The Prinny growled something under its breath and continued massaging Dyme's back.

* * *

Kevin let out a frustrated moan and he mopped the mess Xunahs made in the kitchen and Tahlia helped Xunahs carry the knocked out Prinnies to the hospital. He dunked the mop in the bucket again and felt something tap his shoulder. He turned around to face a Prinny that stared at him oddly.

"Yes? Can I help you out with something?" The teen asked. The Prinny stiffened and looked away, muttered something under its breath and walked away. Kevin watched it walk away and went back to doing his work when the Prinny had disappeared.

_I am pretty lucky Xunahs exploded half the kitchen. If it weren't for him, I'd probably be dead and wouldn't have taken out half the Prinnies I worked with._ The teen looked around himself quickly to make sure no one was around and probed around the room with his mind just to make sure he was alone.

Taking in a deep breath, he lifted his hands up and focused on the water in the bucket in front of him. His eyes squeezed shut as he felt the water begin to give and his concentration was immediately broken again as the Prinny came back into the kitchen, still staring intently at him.

"Uh... hi dood" He said in a squeaky voice, raising his left wing to wave at the teen. Kevin smiled at the Prinny and said, "Well 'hi' right back at you. Is there something I can help you with?"

The Prinny shook his head and said, "No, I just wanted to help you dood. You kicked those guys' asses; it was almost inspiring to watch dood."

The teen smiled, taking that as a compliment. "Thanks. It's pretty nice getting some positive feedback. Sure, I don't have a heart, but being told you're doing something right is always a good confidence boost."

The Prinny grabbed the mop from the bucket and began cleaning the floor. "You're right, dood. Master Etna does nothing but treat us like crap and because of that, the other Prinnies are treating you guys badly just because you're below us in rank..."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" He asked.

As if Kevin didn't speak, the Prinny kept on talking. "It's not right that the other Prinnies act the way they do. If they act like Master Etna, they'll be no better than she is, and treating you guys the way they do will only sour the way you see the world. You're all still young, no matter how close you are to adulthood, and you can still be easily corrupted. They need to learn that unkindness is a vicious cycle. I taught my children that, and I told them that karma would always find a way to get them, no matter how immune they seemed to be to its effects."

Kevin was amazed by the insight of the Prinny and how familiar those words were. "What did you do to become a Prinny?" He asked. The Prinny glared at him for a moment, but his eyes softened and he said, "I can't tell you, dood. It's rude to ask something like that."

"Oh! I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize..."

"No, it's okay. You're just curious, dood."

The Prinny was about to say more, but Flonne walked into the kitchen and did a short curtsey and said, "Sir Kevin, Prince Laharl sent me to ask you to meet with one of our guests. He's travelled a long way to find someone strong, he said you would do."

Kevin smiled happily and thought, _Oh… I don't think I've ever been called "Sir Kevin" before… this is surreal. _And then he thought back to when he had princely status and sighed happily, _I can't believe Alagaesia had Kevin fangirls… _"Man that's just awesome…"

Flonne and the Prinny looked at him oddly. "Excuse me, Sir Kevin?"

The teen snapped back to reality and said, "Yes. The warrior guy… so, Laharl wants me to take him on?"

The Angel Trainee nodded vigorously and said, "Yes! He looks really cool, I'd love to see a sword fight! Prince Laharl doesn't fight that many people unless they insult him… it's over too quickly, so it's boring to watch."

Kevin raised an eyebrow and thought, _Jeeze… she's turning more and more demon-like with each day._ He saw a small golden necklace hanging from her neck and something in his mind clicked. "Uh, excuse me Miss Flonne," He said, adding the miss to sound more polite. "may I look at that pendant?"

The Angel Trainee held the jewellery protectively and said, "No! It's dangerous for those with impure hearts to handle, you could get really hurt!"

Kevin sighed and thought, _Well that's just great. She thinks I'm some sort of lech or something… huzzah_.

He summoned Vortex and said, "C'mon Miss Flonne, I have a pure heart, how would I have a Keyblade if I didn't?"

The Angel looked at the weapon with astonishment and whispered, "So that's a Keyblade…? The weapon made by the ancient Seraphs to combat the darkness in the universe… I learned about them from Seraph Lamington. A Keyblade hasn't surfaced in eight years… amazing."

She handed him the necklace and he felt an intense burning sensation go throughout his body. He cried out in pain and fell onto his knees. Instead of throwing the necklace away, he held it close to his chest, and no matter how much the Prinny and Angel tried to pry his arms away, they wouldn't budge.

The burning sensation stopped and Kevin slowly moved the necklace away from his chest and inspected his body for burns. There was nothing, except something felt different about him, and both Prinny and Angel were looking at him with wide eyes.

"Yes?" The teen asked. His eyes widened too as he realized he didn't feel his pointed teeth colliding with his bottom row of teeth. He looked at his reflection in the bottom of the bucket and gasped. His eyes were blue, his ears were smooth and his clothes were back to their normal state. He looked at the necklace curiously and put it around his neck.

"Flonne, I need to borrow this for a bit. You'll be in for the fight of a lifetime if you let me wear this for it. I'll return it right away, I promise." He said.

Flonne nodded and guided Kevin to the entrance hall, looking amazed. The Prinny followed closely behind, not being able to take his eyes off of the teenager.

* * *

The gauntlet containing Vince burst open and the Nobody fell to the floor, advancing on Marie, spinning his scythe in his right hand, ready to decapitate the girl. He was halted momentarily as a stone wall shot up, separating the two, but didn't stop him. He simply pulled his hand back and punched it down with one blow and kept walking to Marie.

_Damn it_.She thought as the Nobody moved in. _Move you damn legs, move!_ She looked up and saw Vince's haunting, empty eyes staring at her, almost as if he were looking straight into her soul. She felt all the strength leave her limbs as terror took over and her legs buckled under her. The Nobody lifted the scythe, which began glowing crimson in the fading light. _It can't end this way… not yet._

There was a blast of heat that hit her in the face and her tightly shut eyes were filled with glaring whiteness. It ended as quickly as it began and she opened her eyes slowly and saw Vince's smoking body some twenty feet away. She turned to see where the attack came from and her heart almost leapt into her throat.

"Jesus Christ, Marie. It's a pain in the ass to have to avenge your death and then save you so shortly after. Now then, get up, and help Sora, I'll deal with Chumply over here."

Marie looked at the purple-haired girl and the twin swords that she held at her sides. "Jasmine, is that you?"

"The one and only. But really, Sora, Riku and Tom are preoccupied right now with some other bastard that came down and tried to kill you from behind. Go help them out."

She returned her attention to Vince, who was getting back up on his feet and said, "Hey! Vince, your little ruse is over."

The Nobody ignored her and ran full speed towards her, letting out a bone-chilling shriek. Jasmine jumped back from the scythe as it was swung for her stomach and muttered, "Damn. What did that bastard do to you?" She held up Moon Blade and stopped the scythe from slicing her throat open.

* * *

"Heh. So, Kin did turn on us afterall!" Nico hopped backwards to avoid a slash made by Way To The Dawn and jumped on top of a boulder that was flying for him. "Come on guys, you need to work harder than that!"

The boulder exploded into a sandy cloud and Nico fell into it. Tom grinned widely and said, "Fine. If you insist. Grind that bastard to dust!" The cloud began to churn furiously, Nico screamed in pain as his flesh was ripped from his bones and when everything went silent, he let the cloud fall to the ground and there were no signs of Nico left.

_That shouldn't have happened. There should have been some remains left behind._ The teen felt a sudden burst of malice coming from the mind of a person that was behind him and turned around, throwing a punch with his stone covered fist. He smiled grimly as he connected with Nico's head. There was a sickening _snap_ and the Nobody was flung at the wall on the opposite end of the circular room and faded before he could even touch the ground.

* * *

Jasmine spun around in a circle and smashed Sun Blade on the shaft of Vince's scythe and rammed the butt of Moon Blade into his gut and grinned ferally up at him as warmth spread across his stomach. "Tell Satan I say hello."

* * *

Laharl winced in annoyance as the guest with the blond hair looked up at him with murderous joy. _I can't believe this guy is a human! He's so strong that just looking at him is making me feel like I'm being suffocated!_

"Hey, Laharl… where's the guy you sent me after…" Kevin looked at the man standing in the middle of the great hall and froze in place. He felt an uncomfortable rush of cold air and it seemed as though some invisible force was crushing him.

"You… shouldn't be here!" He wheezed as he fell onto his right knee.

"And yet, here I am! This little runt told me about how strong you are, but you're just some second rate string bean of a wimp! Hey Prince, why don't you get off your ass and fight me instead?"

"He's just faking it, go get him!" Laharl shouted.

The man looked up at him and sighed. "Kid, don't think you can talk to me like that." He drew a long sword that looked like it had been through many battles and walked towards Kevin. _Fuck, he's going to attack me anyways…_ He rolled away from the sword as it was slashed downwards where his head was.

The teen hopped up onto his feet and glared at his blond enemy. "So, how'd you screw around with the air pressure in here?"

"A better question would be, Kevin, 'how'd you get past the Overlord's curse?"

The teen was thrown off guard by the question and barely avoided the sword the second time around. "How did you know my name and about the curse?"

"Heh… I've been doing some research, Kevin, I know a lot about you and your friends. Like that kid that's getting treated for his own usual fuck up. He's my Heartless' brother, it's not that hard to figure stuff like that out. He was always a good pawn, Shaun. His heart was never in it, though. I was thrilled when he lost it, I'd finally be able to let my plans go into motion, but you and your friends took that away from me, and now I'm doomed to wander this hellhole. Thanks."

Kevin jumped back to avoid another swing of the sword and said, "So you're actually the same Ryan from my time? But, how did you get here? You should be dead!"

The poorly dressed man shrugged and said, "Life's full of mysteries isn't it? Now, let's dance."

"Oh, this'll be fun. I didn't get a chance to thank you for killing my childhood friend yet, have I?"

Lightning bolts struck the ground around the Keybearer and he vanished from sight, feeling happy as a familiar sensation returned to him. _Maybe Seraph Lamington can lift our curses afterall._

He smashed Ryan in the chest with Vortex and spun around, bringing an oddly familiar translucent blue Keyblade down on his left arm. He jumped away from Ryan and opened his wings so he could get high up in the air to look at the Keyblade. He almost dropped it when he realized that it was Frost. "What the Hell is happening here?" He muttered.

"I could ask the same." Kevin turned around and got a faceful of Ryan's boot and fell to the ground. The man landed on the ground next to Kevin's head and wedged his foot under the teen's back and threw him into the air.

_Damn it… even now, I still can't beat him… I need help. Damn it!_

He opened his wings and glided down to the ground, staring at his foe grimly. _But since when is getting help any fun?_

He closed his wings and fell to the ground. Just as Ryan was going to charge at him, Kevin took a step forward and vanished. He reappeared behind the man and smashed Vortex into his back. Ryan fell forwards, but disappeared before his body made contact with the ground and Kevin spun around, ready to counter the man's attack from behind.

"Oh... so close." Ryan said, standing exactly where he was before.

_Shit!_

Just as Ryan was going to impale the Keybearer through the back, Dyme's sitar smacked him in the face and Tahlia appeared in front of him and delivered a lightning charged kick to his chin.

"Come on Kevin, shape up. You can't get sloppy because of a few odd coincidences!" Tahlia said, smiling at him.

"Y'know, she's got a point. This Ryan guy is tough; something seems oddly familiar about him… I can't quite place my finger on it." Dyme said as Ryan started getting back up.

"Thanks guys." Kevin said quietly.

"Oh, don't worry. It's what friends do, watching each other's backs." The girl said happily.

"Hey! You can't help him out!" Laharl shouted.

Tahlia turned to face the prince angrily and yelled, "Would you rather see him die? Where the hell is your sense of decency?"

"No, it's okay..." Ryan said, waving at Laharl. "I don't mind these two getting in my way; it just means more of a workout for me is all."

Kevin reverted back to his normal form and came up with an idea. "Dyme, flood the hall."

"What?"

"Just do it."

Dyme sighed and started playing on his sitar and the hall started flooding. Kevin looked at Tahlia and said, "Help me distract Ryan. We need this water to get up to five feet deep for this to be awesome… I mean effective."

"Oh hey," the three looked up to see Ryan standing in the water that was now up to their ankles, holding a toaster that came out of nowhere. "look at what I found! A magically appearing toaster! Well, what do I do with this…?" He looked at it with interest and said, "Oh well, whatever." And tossed it behind him and disappeared through a portal.

"Ow… ow. Okay, yeah, that spot hurts too… ow! Come on! It's a freaking open sore; you know it doesn't need to be poked! OH CRAP! GET THAT LEMON JUICE AWAY FROM ME!" The nurse in the castle hospital smiled and put down the lemon juice and went into the next room to treat Tahlia's and Dyme's wounds.

_Of all the things that bastard could have done, he magically created a toaster and dropped it in the water… I really hate this world.

* * *

_

"He sends his greetings." Jasmine stared ahead, dumbfounded as Vince faded from sight and she felt a sudden burst of energy from behind her. She rolled forwards to avoid a swing of the scythe and ground her teeth in annoyance. "You just keep bouncing back, don't you?" She growled.

The Nobody dashed at her, preparing another swing of his scythe. Fire erupted around the girl and her swords lit up. "Enough of these games." She said as she stood up. The fire moved away from her and towards Vince, who stopped his attack to move away. The fire stood in place for a moment, and then began to shrink and compress until it was human shape and Jasmine's size.

"What a drag... you actually need my help with this chump?" The fire asked, its voice hissing and crackling like a damp log in the fire place. "Well hey! If you haven't noticed, I have just gotten my heart back, and I need to get used to everything again!" Jasmine retorted angrily.

"Because you smell funny."

Jasmine's eye twitched with annoyance and said, "Fine! Back in the sword you go!"

The fiery creature backed away and said, "Fine, fine, I'll stop mocking you and help you beat down this punk. Yeesh."

Sora, getting a clearer view of the creature's back, saw the Heartless symbol floating in the fire. He was about to engage it when Jasmine turned to face Vince again and said, "'kay Maxxie, you ready?"

"Pssht. I should ask you the same question, Jazzerino."

"Don't call me that!"

"Then don't call me Maxxie!"

"Grr…"

Jasmine jumped back as a ball of darkness was launched her way and she faced Vince and said, "Hey string beans! Don't you see that we're having a civilized, adult conversation? Keep your pants on!"

"Please." The fiery Heartless added.

The Nobody ignored the two and charged at the Heartless, swinging his scythe at her head. Jasmine stopped him with Moon Blade and handed the Heartless Sun Blade. "I figured you'd need a weapon to protect yourself… don't poke your eye out, they're important, you know."

"Can I poke his eyes out?" The Heartless asked, trying her hardest to sound innocent. It was hard too, seeing as how her voice had the sound of crackling flames mixed in.

"I suppose…"

"Yippie-skippie!"

"Yippie-skippie indeed."

Jasmine heard the Nobody growl and said, "Oh right, you're still here." She placed her hand on his chest and blasted him with fire. He was launched back by the explosion. "And that's the closest you'll ever get." She said triumphantly.

"I can't believe he liked you… you're so pleasant."

"Hey, I told him _several_ times I was lesbian, not my fault."

"True… but still."

"No buts! Let's just get this over with!"

She and the Heartless ran at the Nobody and jumped up, their swords blazing and slammed them on the ground on top of him. Darkness exploded out of him, throwing the two back and he stood up as the two landed in perfect unison.

"Pssht. Dark force fields. At least it's something somewhat new, right?" Jasmine asked.

"I guess so... damn I wish there was more stuff to ignite over here."

"The carpet is a good option." Jasmine said, pointing at the centuries old rug they were standing on. "Wow Jasmine, you really do have some sort of masochism to worry about, you know that, right?"

"Meh. Whatever, I like fire as much as the next person... or Kevin, if he could even count as a person."

Jasmine sighed and looked over at Vince and said, "We really are talking too much... why don't we just finish this kid off and be on our merry way?"

"D'aww... can't we stay and fight?"

"No, because we need to..." She was cut off as the Heartless held her hands out and screamed, "BAHAHAH! BURN BABY, BURN!"

Jasmine's jaw went slack as the room almost instantaneously went ablaze and sighed. "That's overkill, don't you think?"

"There's no such thing as overkill, only complete and total destruction and wussy murder."

"...when the hell did you start becoming chaotic evil?"

"Insanity from living a life for a month in which I could do nothing whatsoever but think?"

"Inside a jar... yeah, not my plan."

"You're forgiven."

"Good."

Jasmine gasped in pain as she felt an unseen force push her down to the ground and the flames making up the Heartless fluttered lethargically as if they were being snuffed out. _Damnit, gravity field. Reina told me about that before I went out... I can't get to him unless..._

She connected with his mind and started wreaking havoc, but was ceased immediately as an overwhelming amount of darkness grabbed her mind and sucked her in. The Heartless next to her disappeared, and the gravity field left as well and all of tension in the girl's body was gone.

"Jasmine!" Tom and Marie cried as they ran up to their friend to help her out. Tom closed his eyes and entered her mind, leaving immediately and looking very confused. "She's not there..."

"What?" Sora asked.

"Her mind is gone, there's absolutely nothing left in her head." The Nobody explained.

* * *

"Maxjisne... where are we?" Jasmine asked, taking a cautious step forwards. The fiery Heartless sighed and followed close behind. "I have no idea, I'd guess this is Vince's mind... what a fucked up place."

"I concur." Jasmine said as she poked at a stuffed rabbit that exploded into its composite parts, which disappeared when they touched the ground that looked like a body of water.

"So... I see the faithless traitors have come by for a visit." Jasmine and her Heartless stood back to back to cover their own weaknesses and scanned the area. "Who's there?" The girl shouted.

"Who? Haha... that's an easy one." The water, just five feet away from the two rippled and a tall, poorly dressed man rose out of it with the Heartless symbol appearing clearly on his chest.

"Raynx?! But how..." The Heartless smiled at his old partner and said, "How? Well, Superior, after capturing me after your little friends defeated me decided to experiment by giving someone an unmatching heart. Why? Because he was bored. When? About a month ago. Where? Well, you two should know. You lived there for a month! What? Indeed."

"Well, you don't have much reason to be cocky there, buddy boy. You have Maxjisne and me to deal with this time!" Jasmine shouted.

Raynx merely chuckled at Jasmine's words and said, "Oh, that's true... but, do you remember when you had your friends and this miserable excuse for a host to back you up? I personally impaled you. You're nothing compared to me!"

* * *

"Hey... where'd Vince go?" Marie asked. Riku and Sora looked where Vince was standing and didn't see anything.

"He left, had some business to tend to." Sora was tossed aside as if he were a ragdoll and Riku was sent flying away in a similar fashion. Marie spun around a few times before being flung out one of the stained glass windows. Nico came to a halt and stood in front of Tom, smirking triumphantly.

"How did you survive that? I saw you die!"

Nico grinned and said, "Simple, I just moved so fast that I made an afterimage of myself, and it made me look like I was fading away to nothingness. The snapping noise was actually your left thumb. You may want to get that checked out if you survive, bone is sticking out." He pointed at Tom's injury and then jabbed his index finger at it, making the other Nobody cry out in pain.

"Oh come on you moron, you should have known that the stupid rock glove of yours wouldn't be able to cushion the impact of something moving so fast that the human eye can't follow it. The simple vibrations of that impact snapped your thumb. I'm amazed you didn't dislocate your arm doing that!"

* * *

"Man, this sucks!" Kevin groaned as he cleaned the castle toilets, or "Royal Crappers" as one of the Prinnies called them. It was pretty nasty, actually. Sometimes he'd find them flooded and spilling over, or with stuff growing in it that he swore was sentient. Xunahs, Tahlia and Dyme stopped being forced to work and could do whatever they wanted. _Seriously, what did I do to deserve this?_

"Hmhmhm…" Kevin looked up with dread as he heard the wind up for Laharl's annoying laugh and saw the prince with a letter in his hands. He touched the diminutive demon's mind and a grin crept across his face.

_This is my best idea yet! I'll take out my competition by luring them to me!_ Laharl thought, not aware he had an eavesdropper. "Heh…" Kevin looked up at Laharl and put his cleaning utensils away. "Prince?"

The demon looked down at him and said, "What do you want?"

"I quit unless I get treated with more respect and I don't have to do these damn chores. That's the Prinnies' job, not mine."

"HAHAHAHA! Too bad, grunt! You're doing work whether you like it or not!"

"Well then, I quit. Also, kicking Lochit out won't work either; I can only imagine Flonne would give you a hard time for it." Laharl looked at the teen dumbstruck as he turned around and began walking away. "Oh yeah, tell Flonne I thank her for letting me use her necklace, and if my friends ask, tell them the kraken got me or something, if they try to leave, stop them with force."

"And why should I do that?" Laharl said, angered by the teen giving him orders.

"Because I'll find you if you don't." _And I'll find you if you do anyways… this'll be fun._

He walked out the door of the castle and ran across the stone bridge that spanned the lava moat surrounding the castle and off into the setting sun.

* * *

Kairi: Sora was a misunderstood young man all his life. In Elementary school, he was constantly teased for his spiked hair, in Middle School, life fared no better until he met someone that made him feel a way he never felt before… and at that point, Sora knew why he behaved so differently from all the other boys in school…

Sora: Please no… I know where you're going, and you're barred form continuing!

Riku: -unbars- Nah, I want to see where this goes.

Kairi: Thank you, Riku! Sora's reason for behaving so strangely? He found his true love in the new silver haired exchange student, Riku!

Riku: …Dammit.

Kairi: Next time on Kairi's Kronicles, Emo Sora's true love!

Sora: Hey! Since when was I emo?!

Kairi: Oh come on, Sora, it's harmless fun.

Roxas: I like the fact that he didn't ask why you made him gay.

Namine: I sure you do.

Riku: I hate yaoi.

Kairi: With a passion? –smoochy noises-


	13. Overlord's Challenge

Chapter Thirteen: Overlord's Challenge

* * *

Jasmine ran at Raynx with Moon Blade blazing with a hot, white flame, the water around her formed a mist from the intense heat of the blade. He pointed Dreggan at her and grinned as the blade extended for her. She side stepped the black steel sword and ran even faster, letting her sword drag across Dreggan's sharp edge, dulling it.

The blade retracted and Raynx ran forward with the sword at its normal three foot length. The two opposing sides met in the center of the lake with a fiery crash. Jasmine swept kicked the Heartless and he jumped over her foot and spun around, smashing his foot into the side of her head.

She stumbled back and shook her head to stop the ringing and quickly resumed her assault.

"You've become a lot stronger since the last time we met." He said, amazed by the effort she was putting in to trying to force him back. "Yeah... getting some special lessons from the second in command can help out quite a bit."

Raynx started forcing her back again and said, "I agree entirely! Whatever happened to my traitor?" His back suddenly heated up and he jumped away just in time to avoid a ball of fire launched by Maxjisne.

"I find it interesting that you can come out of your host, Max. Maybe you collected darkness while you were a floating heart and when that jar broke, you were reborn in this shape. Either way, our dear friend Superior would be interested in this knowledge if he doesn't already know about it."

"Yeah, he always had a knack for figuring everything out before anyone even thought of what needed to be figured out as a possibility." Jasmine said. She ran for him yet again and swung Moon Blade at his torso. He jumped back, avoiding the attack and swung Dreggan around in a full circle, connecting with Jasmine's sword and flinging it away. Maxjisne charged at him from behind quietly, but was cut in half by Raynx's blade, which had extended and swung behind him to hit the Heartless.

Maxjisne's two halves fell to the ground and vanished and Sun Blade was left floating a few inches above the lake they were all standing on.

The Heartless' composite flames disappeared, leaving Jasmine and Raynx alone on the lake. The Heartless grinned down at her. "Now that we're back to a fair fight, I think we can get started."

The girl smirked at the Heartless and said, "This fight was never fair for you in the first place." Fire exploded around her, vaporizing most of the lake so that a heavy mist covered it. The girl jumped away from her enemy and made several balls of fire float around her. She held her opened palm out, facing where the Heartless was standing in the mist and launched each of the balls of fire and quickly moved away so she wouldn't be followed.

"Pretty clever, but you're still outmatched." Jasmine came to a halt as dozens of black shapes appeared in the mist around her. Each of them lifted a hand in unison and dark balls formed above them, blowing away the mist to reveal that all the shapes were copies of Raynx.

_Fourteen Raynx's eh? Well, that could be a problem. What if I hit the wrong one?_ Fourteen balls of fire floated around her and just as the Raynx copies launched their attack, she jumped up and fired each of the balls of fire at the copies. One of them dodged and the others faded to nothingness. The real Raynx landed right in front of Sun Blade and Jasmine grinned.

She landed on the water and held her hand out. The sword floated up behind the Heartless and shot for her through his torso, with a burst of fire when it was halfway through, just to get the job done.

The sword shimmered slightly and began changing shape so that Raynx was in its place, with Dreggan in both hands and ready to slice through the girl like it had done to her Heartless. Instead of running away, Jasmine gripped the hilt of Moon Blade tightly and sprinted full speed towards the Heartless, and their swords met mid-swing. Jasmine let fire dance around her feet and did a back flip, kicking Raynx in the jaw twice with her blazing feet and landed on the water. She grabbed the hilt tightly with both hands, ran at the Heartless and swung the blade at his neck and decapitated him.

Raynx faded away into nothingness, leaving Vince minus a head in his place. Jasmine backed off as the Nobody faded away and said, "Well shit..." She felt a crushing feeling all around her and she was shot out of the mind and back into her own body.

* * *

_"Dear Sirs and Madames,_

_I hope these dark days find you well._

_However, I, Laharl, am deeply concerned with the state of the Netherworld._

_I am well aware that unnecessary bloodshed is not your desire._

_Therefore, I am writing to propose a formal challenge, an event with my _

_father's title at stake - the title of Overlord._

_The rules are simple._

_On Curseday, in the Month of Adder, I shall journey to the Heart of Evil, _

_carrying with me the official Deed._

_The one who wrests the Deed from my hand shall be recognized as the new _

_Overlord._

_In the event that I reach my destination still in possession of the Deed, I_

_shall assume the position myself._

_Sincerely,_

_Prince Laharl"_

"Whaddya think of my penmanship? Pretty good, huh?" Laharl asked, showing the others the letter he wrote. Xunahs scanned over the words a few times and nodded, Tahlia was awestruck and Dyme simply smirked.

Flonne looked away in a panic and back at the prince. "Y, yes… but, according to the Netherworld calendar, isn't today the designated day?"

"That's right." He replied, "I've ordered the Prinnies to spread copies of this letter all over the Netherworld. The demons aiming to become Overlord are probably lying in ambush right now."

"So…" Xunahs said, "This offer is open to everyone. Right?"

Laharl sighed and said, "No you idiot, there's no deed for the position of Overlord."

"Huh?"

"It's a trap, nimrod." Tahlia said, and she then kicked him in the side.

* * *

"Get out of my way you idiot!" A wood golem looked up from the hole it was digging up to hide in and ducked as Kevin jumped over its head and continued running through the thick forest. _So, they got the letters already did they? Well damn, I hope I get a good hiding spot before all of them are taken._ He ducked under a low hanging branch and jumped over a moss covered log.

"By the end of this, I should have my abilities back… damn I'm overworking myself." He looked up and saw a mountain just past the tree line. The teen grinned and picked up the pace, full out sprinting for the mountain.

Just as he got close to it and sunlight started shining on him, he opened his wings and vaulted himself off of a pointed rock. As he reached the end of his jump, he spread his wings out as far as they could go and began to flap them so he could reach the top. He landed on the flat stone top and lay down, panting furiously.

"Yeah… that was definitely my workout for the year."

The teen heard someone chuckling and sat straight up, looking around for the source of the laugh with his eyes as well as his mind and ears. The chuckle, which grew progressively more and more annoying, seemed to surround him, but he couldn't find its source, and he was all alone on the completely flat top of the hill. There wasn't even a pebble; it was like the hill was sliced cleanly down the middle horizontally by some sort of massive sword.

Kevin slowly got up onto his feet and summoned Vortex. "Whoever is out there, show yourself before I go all sorts of crazy on your ass!" He heard the chuckling yet again and an arrow shot from behind him and stuck itself in the ground right where his head was before he got up. He turned around to see nothing but a forest with obscenely tall trees, some even bigger than the hill itself.

"You're here for the Overlord's challenge, are you not?" Kevin could have sworn he saw a small flash of light coming from one of the trees. "Okay John, it's time to come out." The demon appeared next to Kevin and stood at his back and quickly adjusted his visor. "So, what's the problem, sir?" He asked.

"Well, we appear to be surrounded, I walked right into a trap dedicated to Laharl, it'd seem. I guess we're the testers." The teen answered, still scanning the trees for some form of life with his mind. "And whoever or whatever it is, it can hide its mind pretty well, and it seems to have stopped firing at us." He felt a spike in mental activity coming from the west and shot several balls of lightning in that direction and did a sweep, just to be safe. A few of the trees in the line of fire lit up.

"Hahaha! So far off, kiddo!" Kevin turned to face the east. _Damn it, he can move quickly..._

He blocked an arrow with Vortex and said, "John, go to the southern part of the perimeter, I'll go to the north. Let's find this guy."

"I'm right here." The teen was thrown back by a punch to the face and rolled backwards across the ground. He got up on his feet, rubbing his nose gingerly. There, standing in the middle of the mountain was a man with blond hair and wire fram glasses that seemed to magnify his grey eyes. He was wearing a long red coat and tight black pants.

Sunlight reflected from his glasses as he adjusted them so that they were pressing against the bridge of his nose and said, "My name is Haruka. I am an assassin interested in fighting Prince Laharl for his title of Overlord. But you seem to be after the same thing, so I must destroy you. Nothing personal, just business."

Kevin got up with the help of John, who had rushed to his side and said, "I'm not interested in you. Back off." Haruka chuckled again and said, "Oh. But I'm actually a bit interested in you. I saw your fight in the castle with that man. You seemed so powerful back there. And you were a human too, but now you're a demon. I've read of curses that change humans into demons, but do they sap the humans of their abilities as well?"

"Yeah, they do. Do you really want to fight me when I'm not at my best?" Kevin asked, hoping he could get out of fighting, he was too tired. The demon shook his head and said, "No. I can't do that. While you are tired and I should be courteous enough to not kill you, I need to do this to ensure I become Overlord."

The teen sighed at the answer he was given and said, "Fine. But before you kill me, tell me one thing..."

"No."

"What?!"

"I can't sit here and chat with you; it would leave me open for attack." He replied.

"Well, you're doing it now, aren't you?"

"Why yes I am. Thank you for telling me that, I'm surprised you didn't let me get wide open for attack. Such easy going prey."

Kevin smirked and said, "Oh? I didn't? Please tell that to my friend right behind you."

The demon's turned around, screaming "IMPOSSIBLE!" and that small opening was all the teen needed. He opened his wings and flew straight at Haruka, charging Vortex with lightning. He smashed the Keyblade into the demon's side while shouting "Psych!" and dropped to the ground, landing on top of his enemy.

"Hey, John. He's got a friend out there as well. I'll hold him down and you find his buddy, okay?" The demon nodded and turned around, his blue cape swishing behind him and he ran over to the trees.

"So..." Kevin said, as he grave Haruka's coifed hair a noogey. "Tell me how you were able to block your mind. It's not every day you see a normal human being or demon for that matter with the ability to guard themselves from mental attacks and to cover their presence so well."

"Heh. I'm an assassin, didn't I tell you that before? We need to know how to cover our tracks, especially if our targets are on the move." There was a gunshot that echoed from the forest and Kevin looked over in the direction from which the shot was fired. "It looks like my friend found yours. Sucks to be him, she is quite a handful."

* * *

John jumped up into the higher branches of the tree and ran around to the back just as another round of gunshots was fired. _Kevin needs me to take this girl down. But how do I do it? She's got a gun and I fight with my fists! This isn't an anime, Haruhi damn it!"_

"Hang on a sec. If I'm disadvantaged, that means luck is on my side. That means I can take her down, and none of her bullets will hit me! Yeah!" He ran back around the tree and jumped straight at the gunner. She was shocked by his sudden bravery, but still held her gun steady, aimed for his head and pulled the trigger. He grinned as he felt the bullet just barely graze his ear and he landed on a tree branch.

She aimed the gun again, but he disappeared before she could get a clear shot. The demon felt the wind shift behind her and John's fist collided with the back of her head, knocking her off her perch. "Like it? That's my evility. The further I move, the more quickly I can move before I get an attack in. The moment I hit you, my speed goes right back to normal, however." John smirked down at her and blushed immediately, realizing something embarrassing. _She's only wearing a bikini and a cape! I feel perverted now, damn it!_

And soon after, he realized something else that made him especially nervous. "DAMN! SHE'S UNCONSCIOUS! NOW I HAVE TO CARRY HER BACK!" Let it be noted that John does not function well around girls and is very awkward around boobs.

The demon jumped down from the tree and shifted the girl demon's cape out from under her, sweating massively and doing his best to keep his eyes off her well endowed chest. "Okay... okay... just a bit more. Ahah! No need to worry about my hand slipping and no need to worry about seeing her chest!" He stood up, admiring how well he mummified the demoness with her cape and hung her over his shoulder. "Okay then, time to get back to Kevin."

* * *

"So, are you worried about your friend? You poor kid, you sent your friend out to fight a superior opponent and now his head has been blown off... OW!" Haruka spat dirt out of his mouth after Kevin had rammed his head into the ground. "Nah, he's okay. He appears to be carrying a red mummy... what the hell..."

"Chelsea! You bastard, what did you do to her?!" Kevin looked down at the demon with surprise. _I didn't think assassins were supposed to show their emotions so much._ The man's mind was wide open too, as if his tears and sudden thrashing weren't enough indication, his mind was screaming for him to be let go so that he could go to the demoness.

"She's okay. She just had a bit of a fall." John said.

Haruka glared up at him and cried, "A bit of a fall?! She's bleeding from her head! Let me up so I can rip you apart!" He got punched in the head again by his captor, which got him swearing even more and Kevin said, "Just stop thrashing for a moment. She's not dead, I can feel her mind, and she's alive, just unconscious. I can help her out a bit, but you need to promise you won't kill my friend if I get off."

"And why should I help you?!" The demon spat.

Kevin sighed and smacked his forehead. "Because, I am currently sitting on you. And no matter how much you move, I won't get thrown off. And Chelsea over there is still bleeding. The thing is, if she keeps on going without help, she'll die. And there's no way you can get somewhere safe to heal her before that happens. So, are you going to let her die or are you going to let me heal her?"

The demon sighed and gave in. "Fine. I'm sorry for flying off the handle like that. I don't know what I'd do without Chelsea." Kevin smiled and said, "I know how you feel. Two of my friends were kidnapped a few days ago. I'm trying to figure out how to bring them back.

"Really? Perhaps I could assist you." Haruka offered. Kevin was surprised by the offer of assistance and said, "No. You can't come with me. These people I'm fighting are far more dangerous than anyone in the Netherworld, unless there was like some sort of Tyrant Overlord or something. But, I really need to get to Chelsea." He got up from the demon and walked over to the demoness and unwrapped her cape.

John watched in awe as the teen ignored the demoness' chest and closed the wound in her head by speaking in some language he had never heard before. He got a cloth from his pocket and some water from his canteen on it and rubbed the drying blood away. He sat her up and said, "And that's that. I think I might need some headache medicine though, I was low enough on energy before I did that."

He tried to stand back up, but he couldn't. His legs and arms were exhausted and he felt like he was nearly ready to pass out as well. "Hey John, in my coat pocket I have some bread I stole from the kitchen, can you get it and give it to me? I can't move..."

John complied with Kevin's request and Haruka squatted in front of him, examining him intently. "So... how did you avoid doing the typical teenage boy thing of getting freaked out around my fiancé's chest? Do you swing for the other team or something?"

Kevin chuckled in a weary way and said, "No... I'm a Nobody. I don't have a heart, I can't do much in the having a sexual attraction department."

"I see... and you seem to know something of otherworldly magic. I believe that was a basic healing spell used with the Ancient Language, am I correct?" He asked.

"Yeah. I lived there for about eight months, learning the language. Being a Nobody, I can take in information and store it without having my emotions getting in the way. Because they aren't there. Not that I enjoy it, even if I could. I'd much rather be able to smile sincerely with my friends, I've missed out on almost a year of my life because I couldn't feel it."

"I see." Haruka stood up and said, "You, my friend, will make a fine rival." Kevin choked on his dry bread and gasped, "What?! Rival?"

"Of course. You bested me at my own game and you are proving to be a formidable foe. Perhaps when your curse is lifted, we can fight again. He picked up Chelsea and supported her on his shoulder. "So, until then, farewell."

The demon ran off into the forest with his fiancé and Kevin sighed. "Well this is just shaping up to be a beautiful day. Isn't it? First I sprint halfway across the Netherworld in a night and then I get into a fight with an assassin, who know sees me as his rival. Oh well, it could have been worse. I could have been stuck with Vyers or Axel.... or Don Kanoji. Poor Ichigo."

"So, what are we going to do now?" John asked. The teen sighed and said, "We can't do much right now. I'm exhausted. I'll take a quick nap and you can be on the lookout for anyone suspicious. Okay?"

The demon nodded and said, "Right."

* * *

"Raynx!"

The Heartless chuckled as his image overlapped with Vince's body. "Yes, that would be me. Tom, was it? Such a pleasure to see you again. If I remember correctly, you and all your friends were on the sidelines while I killed your dear friend Jasmine. Not very nice of you."

Tom bit his lip in frustration and Sora stepped in front of him. "Who are you?" He asked.

Raynx chuckled and said, "Ah! Sora, it's amazing seeing a celebrity such as yourself in person. My name is Raynx, the master of illusions and the Heartless of this body's previous owner's brother. I think Superior will be thrilled to learn that I figured out a way for a Heartless to possess a body without having it rotting away on you. It feels so nice, having internal organs again."

"Perhaps I can share this information with my brother, Xunahs. I'm sure he wouldn't want his body to decompose on him. If he dies, that's it. There's no coming back."

The three islanders stood in shock. "Wait? Xunahs is dying? Why didn't he tell us?" Tom asked.

Raynx chuckled and said, "At this point, he probably isn't aware of it yet. The body he took over was relatively fresh, so it could have accepted him and it could function for him long enough to not get worried. But it'll start rejecting him violently in a week or so, and he'll be dead a month later." He sighed sadly and said, "There is a problem though. My dear brother has been thrown three years back into the past. I fear that there's no way for me to possibly deliver my message to him, unless..." He walked over to Jasmine's unconscious body and took a red mask from her pocket. "I borrow a ride for myself."

He placed it over his face and took in a deep breath. Light wrapped itself around him and he vanished from sight.

Tom was pounded to the ground by Nico, who had been the first to getting over the shock of seeing a former comrade get his body taken over by Raynx. "Hey! I do _not_ like being forgotten." He said angrily.

"Well, if that were the case, then you should be very angry at yourself for not remembering you should be 'beating us down'." Marie said, turning around and throwing a punch in the air. A giant gauntlet rammed into Nico and threw him at a wall.

She bent over to help Tom and said, "Hey, are you okay? That kid really is giving you a hard time, isn't he?"

Tom sighed and said, "Yeah... first he pinned me down while his brother pulled my clothes... Ow! Why'd you drop me?! Uh... is your nose bleeding?"

Marie coughed and started blushing. "Oh, no. I'm uhm... sorry!" She glanced over at Sora and Riku, who were dealing with Nico and she sighed. "Okay, I think we both need to sit this one out."

Sora ran at Nico, getting ready to swing Kingdom Key when the Nobody ran at him and jumped on top of the Keyblade, ran up its blade and kicked its wielder in the face. Riku came out of nowhere and slashed the Nobody across the middle with Way to the Dawn and fired a barrage of dark firagas at the Nobody's chest.

He landed and lunged up at Nico and smashed the butt end of his Keyblade into the boy's chest, sending him up into the air. "This kid can't take much of a hit, can he? He's practically breaking apart with each hit we land on him."

Sora nodded, using his shirt to soak up the blood from his lip. "Yeah, how can he keep going though?"

"It's because I want to kill you. Simply my desire to end the two of your miserable lives is enough reason for me to continue going. Now perish, both of you." The two teens jumped up and away as the Nobody ran by them. He turned around to run at the two of them again, but froze in his tracks as a sharpened stone raced for his head. He tried to move away, but his feet were bound in place. Nico let out one last ear-piercing scream before the rock went into his head and ripped it apart and he started fading away.

"And that's for stealing my pants, you damn bastard!" Tom cried. Sora and Riku exchanged confused glances with one another, and returned to Tom and Marie, deciding it was best not to ask.

* * *

"Man... how far in do we have to go?" Xunahs asked. "We've been at this for half an hour now, and we're still seeing no demons! Are you sure they got Laharl's message?"

A ball of fire shot past his head and collided with a tree behind them and Tahlia said, "Oh. I'm pretty sure they did."

"Okay everyone, fan out! Find the demons and exterminate them quickly!" Laharl cried. Etna ran forwards, slicing through various magic attacks fired at her with her spear and Flonne stayed behind, firing magic back in the direction of people firing their own spells. Tahlia and Dyme took the left side while Xunahs handled the right.

Xunahs landed on the ground in front of a group of red mages who were preparing yet another barrage of fire spells. The draconic teen ran forward and sliced their staves in half with his sword before the attacks could be finished. The girls looked up at him, terrified as he stood in front of them, triumphant and was wondering what to do next.

The girls raised their hands, huge balls of fire forming in their palms and they shouted, "GIGA FIRE!" Xunahs' eyes widened in shock as the large balls of fire raced for him and he was blasted back. Something caught him just before he hit the ground and he was put down carefully. He opened his eyes weakly to see Gustav, his iron knight standing in front of him, holding a large axe. "Don't worry, I've got them." He said in his deep voice.

He ran forwards, albeit slowly, taking all of their fire spells and shrugging them off like they were nothing. When he got close enough, he spun around in a circle, throwing his axe like a boomerang and it connected with one of the red mage's heads, killing her instantly. As it was returning, he jumped up and grabbed it. He spun around again and threw it at one of the red mages that was trying to get away and let it return to his hand. One of the mages produced a sword out of nowhere and ran at Gustav, screaming in a deranged way.

The armour clad demon sighed and let her sword connect with his chest and it bounced off. He lunged forward, hitting the demon with his axe and landed on his left foot, pivoted and grabbed her by the dress and spun her around. He flung her up in the air and jumped after her, holding the axe ready to swing yet again and it collided with her back, sending her flying to the ground.

He jogged over to Xunahs' side and offered him a hand. The teen accepted it and was hoisted to his feet. "Thanks, Gustav. I had no idea you could kick so much ass! But really, was that necessary? They looked like kids..."

The demon sighed and said, "It was sir. In the world of demons, you need to be ready to fight to the end against anyone, even your own brother if you want to survive." Xunahs twitched slightly at the information and said, "I did that once. I had a fight with my brother to the death, I left him to die, but he came out of it alive."

Gustav patted his shoulder roughly and asked, "Why is it that the two of you fought?"

"Well, when I fought my adopted brother, it was because we were on opposing sides. I was trying to destroy a world, and he was trying to save it. And then, I fought my actual brother, the one I am related to by blood and this time I was on my adopted brother's side, trying to save the world. I have killed before, but it's never easy to do." He said, looking away.

"Don't worry. These are hard times for everyone. We'll find peace one day." The demon said comfortingly. The teen smiled and said, "Heh. Thanks."

* * *

"Flash Flood!" Dyme started doing a riff on his sitar and water began pouring down from the rain and coming out of every possible hole in the ground, completely soaking all of the red mages that were attacking him and Tahlia. Lucinda, his blue mage jumped down to a branch below him and pointed her staff at the water and shouted, "Giga Ice!" Freezing it instantly and trapping the six demons in a giant block of ice.

Tahlia and Claudia landed on the ice and the teen girl stood above two of the frozen demons and her fist became charged with lightning and shouted, "Thunder Impact!" smashing her fist into the ice and shattering it. Several bolts of lightning came down from the sky and struck the two mages, killing them instantly.

Claudia held her bow steady and pointed it at the four remaining demons. The notched arrow began glowing blue and she jumped backward and fired it into the air, yelling, "Zielregen!". The arrow arched through the air and as it reached the peak of its flight, it exploded, separating into five separate blue arrows which fell into the ice and made a massive, fiery explosion and all six of the demons vanished in flashes of pink light.

"Whoa. Laharl wasn't kidding! Shouting the names of your attacks as you use them really does make them more effective!" Tahlia said. Claudia giggled at the comment and said, "Of course it does. It pumps you up, making you ready to do the attack with all your strength."

"Not that Gustav'd ever do it." Lucinda muttered, who had joined the other two on the ice. Dyme chuckled and said, "Yeah. He's kinda quiet. But I think we should rejoin Laharl and Flonne. We can start moving ahead."

* * *

Etna grinned as seven red mages and one star mage surrounded her, preparing their elemental attacks. Just as they released their spells, Etna jumped high into the air and yelled, "Asteroid Drop!" She pointed her spear at the ground and began spinning as she fell. She collided with the ground, creating an explosion that flung the surrounding mages back and making them disappear in flashes of pink light.

"Well that was fun and easy." The demon said, looking around to make sure there was no one else left. When she determined it was safe, she headed back to Laharl.

"Yo Prince, we took care of those mages for you. So, are we moving on?" Etna asked.

"Yeah. There's a clearing up ahead. Let's get going"

* * *

Marie led the others to a winding flight of stairs that seemed to go on forever. Behind her, Tom and Sora were supporting Jasmine and Riku was walking behind the two to watch out for attacks from behind.

The group stopped as they heard footsteps on the stairs and they saw a teen walking down them casually with two cages floating behind him. Sora gasped, recognizing the two inhabiting the cages and cried, "Donald! Goofy!" The cages dropped and rolled down the stairs, each time they hit the marble, chunks were ripped off and finally they came to a rest at the bottom. The teen jumped from the stairs and landed on top of Goofy's cage and said, "So I see that you defeated my brother, Nico. I'm sure his only regret was that I couldn't have been taken down before him and he could see me burn in Hell."

Riku summoned Way to the Dawn and said, "Well, we could always grant part of his wish as a sign of respect."

The teen started howling with laughter and cried, "What? You defeat me? Don't be ridiculous! You are decades away from beating me!" He noticed Jasmine and said, "However. You did defeat Kin, perhaps you are a worthy opponent."

He spread open his arms and a strong wind blew across the hall, forcing the group back and making the candles hanging off the walls burst into life. "So, get ready to perish by my hands."

"And who do those hands belong to?" Marie asked. The Nobody chuckled and said, "To Jesse, the greatest sorcerer to serve under Superior! Can you perish now, or is there something else you want to ask? No? Good."

The teen ran forwards, darkness flowing from his hands. He punched Marie in the face with his right hand, grabbed her scruff of the neck with his left and threw her at Jasmine, who was still unconscious. Jasmine and the two carrying her fell to the ground and Riku ran at Jesse, who stood there, waiting for the attack. As Riku got close, a barrier formed between the two and the teen was thrown back by the wall.

"Hmm... you sure do like running, don't you? Let's take care of that." The Nobody snapped his fingers and Riku felt something in his legs snap. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground, unable to stand up. "RIKU!" Sora ran to Riku's side to help him up, but was halted by another barrier.

"There's no point, Sora. I broke his legs; he won't be able to stand up for a while. Now then, are any of you going to come fight me, or has my display of power wowed you enough into surrender?" The Nobody asked.

Marie scowled at him and stood up and opened her book. Jesse grinned at her and said, "Ohoh no, you won't be allowed to use your little tricks on me." He pointed his index finger at the spine of the book and a thin beam of light shot out of his finger and through the book which ignited instantaneously."

"Now you don't have a weapon, Ms. Suzette. I don't see how you could possibly fight anymore."

Sora and Tom almost jumped out of their skin as Jasmine started to move. She groggily got to her feet and both her swords came to her side. "Yo, Jess. I was wondering something. Do you ever shut up?"

She ran at him, each footstep igniting the centuries old carpet and jumped at him. The Nobody grinned and got out of the way of the attack. Jasmine flashed a smile as Sun Blade sliced open Goofy's cage. She blasted several balls of fire at the Nobody to keep him from getting to her as she opened Donald's cage. "Sora, get Goofy and Donald and get out of here!" She yelled.

Sora nodded and ran to help Donald up while Tom went to grab Goofy. A cloud of ash formed around Marie and began to shrink and condense until it returned to looking like the same book she was carrying before. She scribbled something down and green light washed over Riku, returning his legs to their normal un-broken state.

"Go help Sora and Tom out; I'm going to stay here with Jasmine. This Jesse kid is bad news."

Riku nodded and thanked her. He sprinted after Sora and Tom, who were beginning to go up the winding stairs.

The giant armour appeared at Marie's side and she ran for Jesse, throwing a punch at him. The armour did the same and the Nobody was thrown to the ground. The girl grinned wildly and raised her left foot in the air and the armour followed her motion. She brought it down to the ground and the armour's boot went straight for Jesse.

* * *

Xunahs jogged ahead of the rest of the group and rested against a thick orange tree trunk. If he wasn't so exhausted, he would have tried to readjust himself so that the scaly bark didn't cause so much discomfort and a sudden, throaty roar filled the forest. Xunahs tilted his head upwards to see what had made the noise and nearly wet himself.

The tree trunk wasn't a trunk after all. No, it was a demon. A very large, draconic demon that had fire sprouting from its head and arms. "Are you the son of the Overlord?" It asked. Laharl, who had just walked into the clearing with Tahlia, Dyme, Etna and Flonne right behind him said, "Yeah, what's it to you?"

"AHAHA! This is perfect! So the rumours are true, Krichevskoy has died! I will become the Supreme Overlord by taking over this Netherworld! Bwahaha!"

Laharl sighed and said, "No you won't. You can't beat me, big guy."

"Oh really? I've conquered several Netherworlds before this one! The only person that has ever bested me in battle was your father, and now he's gone, there's no one protecting you or this Netherworld from me!"

"Meh. You don't look so tough." Laharl said. The Overlord roared and the group standing before him fell over from the shaking the sound made. The prince however, stood as if nothing had happened and said, "I'm still waiting for that power."

"Fool! What you see is only a fraction of my power!" It roared. "Funny." Etna said," We only seem to be seeing a fraction of you as well. And that fraction doesn't look so strong."

The Overlord looked down at her and said, "You want to see me as a whole and witness my true power? Fine!" There was a blinding white light and as it disappeared, ten copies of the Overlord appeared, all much smaller. "You will see the power of the ultimate Overlord!" They roared in unison and charged at the group.

"Not so fast!" The Overlords stopped in their tracks and looked over to the left, where Laharl's vassals moved out of the woods. "We can't let you harm our fearless leader, Laharl!" Goleck shouted.

"In the name of the late King Krichevskoy, we'll stop you from taking over our Netherworld, Overlord!" Zommie yelled. He bounced up the nearest Overlord and punched it in the face. To the surprise of everyone present except for the vassals, the Overlord was thrown back by the punch.

"I-Impossible! You are but lowly vassals! How can you harm an Overlord?!"

Draati flew down from the trees and struck at one of the ten Overlords with her claws and said, "Because King Krichevskoy trained us himself to watch over the prince in the event something like this happened. We are all really high levelled too... like level three hundred or something."

"Wow... they just took down two of those guys like they were nothing..." Dyme said. Manty let out a mighty roar and jumped on one of the Overlords, injecting it with the venom from his tail. A ghost appeared in front of Laharl and said, "We're sorry that we didn't come sooner, sir."

Laharl looked at his vassal with annoyance and said, "Ghoss! I knew you guys left so you could ambush me! Don't even bother trying to pretend you didn't!"

"That's not important; we're helping you, aren't we? That Overlord, even now is too strong for you to defeat. Please just run ahead and let us beat him. One of your defectees is waiting for you up ahead."

"Defectee? Does he mean Kevin?" Tahlia asked.

Laharl groaned and said, "No, of course not! Kevin got eaten by the kraken, remember?"

"And I'm the Easter Bunny's sister, Delilah." Xunahs replied in an annoyed voice.

"Well you definitely look the part."

"Shut up Etna."

* * *

"So John, are they coming yet?" Kevin asked. The demon nodded and said, "Yeah! I see them running through the forest now. So now what?" Kevin grinned and ran to the opposite end of the hill they were on and waited for the others to come.

"There he is!" Kevin grinned as Laharl charged for him with everyone else running behind him. He raised his hand and pointed at the incoming group of demons and shouted, "CHARGE!" A dozen giant wood golems charged up and over the hill to engage Laharl's group in combat.

"A little bribe sure does go a long way, doesn't it, John?" He asked. John nodded and said, "Yeah. But it doesn't help when the bribe accepters aren't very good help." The last of the wood golems were cut down by Laharl, who ran towards Kevin as fast as he could. His sword connected with Vortex and he said, "You bastard, I'll beat you and keep my title of Overlord no matter what you throw at me!"

Kevin parried the attack and threw a ball of lightning at Laharl. He jumped back and into the air. He opened his wings and said, "Of course you will. That's the Overlord's way, isn't it? Winged Slayer!" He dove straight down at Laharl and hit him with Vortex. Energy exploded around the Keyblade and threw the demon prince back. Kevin came out of the dive and landed on the ground.

"Hmhmhm..." Kevin and Laharl watched each other, waiting for the other to lower their defences. "You're pretty strong for a man-maid." The prince said. The teen grinned and replied, "And you're pretty resilient for a half-pint."

The two opposing warriors ran at each other and their swords locked again. Laharl started to walk forwards, throwing his whole weight into pushing the taller demon over. The teen threw all of his weight forwards and did the same, doing his best to not get overwhelmed.

"Oh wow! This is so cool! The demon and the hero, facing off for their honour and their own dreams and ambitions!" Flonne shouted she was so pumped up; you could almost see a battle aura surrounding her. The others sighed at the angel trainee's enthusiasm and continued watching the fight.

"Well, actually... she does have a good point. Your friend there has really gotten into it. He has no intention of backing down and the prince is having a blast. I wonder if Kevin knows he won't become Overlord if he beats Laharl." Etna said, watching the demon and Nobody fight, not missing a single one of their attacks.

Kevin jumped up and threw Vortex at Laharl, who blocked it with his own sword and knocked the Keyblade away. The teen called it back to his hand and landed on the ground. He charged his weapon with energy and ran at Laharl as fast as possible and the demon prince ran equally as fast. They collided and jumped back, repeating the same movements over and over again, moving more and more quickly with each attack.

They met again at the center of the hill with their weapons locked and Kevin said, "Hey Laharl... since I won't become Overlord if I beat you, how about this. If I win, I get to be promoted from lowly maid of a vassal to a night guard or something? I always liked the night. I promise I won't be a slouch and let assassins get past me."

Laharl grinned and said, "Hah! Fine, but if you lose, you have to run around the castle naked!" Kevin raised an eyebrow and started pushing the demon prince back. "Well then now it's out of the question, I need to win to preserve my dignity and to do something fun." He lunged forwards and pushed the prince over and spread open his wings. The teen jumped backwards and flew high up into the air.

Laharl got up and several balls of fire appeared around him. Flonne and Etna gasped, seeing Laharl prepare his attack and the others behind them just watched. The sky darkened as storm clouds rolled in and Kevin pointed Vortex down at the prince. The demon raised his hands and flung them down, yelling, "Overlord's Wrath!" The balls of fire shot towards Kevin and just as the balls of fire hit him, so did several lightning bolts.

The crowd below watched with a mix of horror and awe. "Well damn... it was nice knowing the kid when I had the chance." Etna said. Everyone else was struck dumb and completely at a loss for words.

In the cloud of smoke made by the explosion, there was a small flash of light and Kevin dropped from the cloud and landed on the ground. Electricity crackled around the teen and Laharl grinned at his opponent. "So you're doing that thing from when you fought Ryan?"

Kevin nodded and said, "Yeah. Just at the last second, I transformed, letting the energy expelled from the transformation cancel out your attack. I won't lose that easily, prince."

"Wow! He transformed! THIS IS SO COOL!" Flonne cried, pumping her fists in the air, cheering as loud as she could. Xunahs and Dyme quickly joined in, as did Tahlia and John.

"Go Kevin! You can do it! Woo!"

Kevin grinned as the cheering got louder and he ran at Laharl. The demon prince did the same and the two collided again. "Hah... you're still holding up pretty well, Prince." Kevin said. "I'm pretty impressed."

"Yeah, you're not too shabby yourself. But I'm not done yet." The prince dropped down and kicked Kevin hard in the stomach and raised his hand, laughing like any true Overlord would and jumped high into the air as the black clouds were parted by a blazing mountain-sized meteor.

"METEOR IMPACT!" Kevin paled as the meteor flew straight at him and he looked around frantically for a way to get away.

He jumped back at the last second as the meteor collided with the ground, completely destroying the half of the mountain they were fighting on. The impact of the meteor sent out shock waves that leveled a large chunk of the forest and blew everyone except for the prince tumbling backwards. Kevin's wings broke from the strain of keeping him from being flung away. The teen fell to the ground and tried to get up, but he had no strength left in his body. _Well damn. I guess I lost._

He was helped up by Laharl and Xunahs, who had rushed to his side and carried over to join the others. "So then... I lost. Well, back to grunt work for me. Man, this sucks."

"Uh, Kevin... we heard Laharl's end of the deal. You're going to be streaking as well." Xunahs added.

"Don't remind me..." Kevin groaned. Laharl started laughing and said, "No way am I making you do something like that! You are way too strong to do something like that. You and your friends will be working as my soldiers instead of servants!"

"...and the streaking?" Kevin asked.

"Hmhmhm...."

"Oh well, at least I tried."

"HA HA HA HA!" Everyone looked at the prince, who looked extremely happy. "Overlord! I am the Overlord! Ahahaha! Overlord! Overlord! Overlord!! Me, I'm the Overlord! Woohoo!"

Kevin grinned and said, "Congratulations, Overlord Laharl." The prince looked at the teen with surprise and said, "What'd you call me?"

"Overlord. It's your title now, isn't it? You earned it. You have the strength to protect the Netherworld. The only question is: do you have the knowledge and wisdom to be a good ruler?"

* * *

"So, Kairi. The hole in the wall didn't work... I have one more idea. But it's a risky one. But I think we can pull it off, the only people here besides us are Somaxth and Leashex. Venxik's been gone for a while and Halixat is doing her own thing." Ashlee said. "Okay, so here's my plan..."

The teen leaned over to whisper her idea into Kairi's ear and sat back up straight, waiting for the princess' response.

"WHAT?! Are you insane?!" Kairi shrieked.

* * *

Kevin: In a world of big chested women and gratuitous villainy and crime, there is one flat chested, leather clad, gun toting chick that fights for justice!

Kevin: Ashlee, the Badass Lolita!

Ashlee: Oh come on... that's not right.

Kevin: Go Ashlee! Destroy those bad guys! Beat them down with your Kick of Justice!

Kevin: Beat the evil bad guys with your ultimate attack. SUPA SEKUSI BEMARUUUU!

Ashlee: Oh for... I'll beam you right in the face if you don't shut yer trap!

Kevin: Next time on Super Badass Chronicles: Ashlee the Badass Lolita's Strongest Enemy! Don't miss it!

Ashlee: I will make you suffer for an eternity for this. You will wish you could go to hell... OHOHOHOHO....

Xunahs: Wait a second... you made all the women in the world have huge boobs? Dude, I love you! –manly tears-


	14. AkA: Dude, where's my Castle?

Chapter Fourteen: The Adventures of Laharl and the Icy Castle

"Well, I've got an idea. That pendant seemed to help to take care of it, didn't it?"

Kevin leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, which was next to Lochit's bed in the castle's hospital. Laharl was out helping some kid find his pets. Xunahs and Kevin offered to stay behind with Lochit, who was now awake, but still too weak to go fighting.

Lochit nodded at Xunahs' question and said, "Well, from what I've heard, that does make the most logical sense... if we could figure out how to get that power in the pendant and get it to completely destroy the curse, we'd be all better. Wouldn't we? My pointy ears are getting very annoying."

"No, it wouldn't be that easy." Kevin replied, "If we were to take the pendant from Flonne, she'd get weaker to the point that she would be near death. Xunahs, I'm sure you saw her during my fight with Ryan, she was amazed by how it was going, but she looked like she was going to fall over at any moment. It was taken from her already at one point, and according to what both she and Etna told us, she went on for a lot longer without showing even the slightest sign of fatigue... I think that if we asked to borrow it again, we'd have next to no time to figure it out. All we can do is hope we're lucky and can get Seraph Lamington's help."

Lochit shook her head, which she immediately regretted, due to the headache it gave her. She squeezed her eyes tight until the pain subsided and said, "You got our memories back to normal by focusing on them with your own mind reading powers, which you got by forcing yourself to remember, to break the curse surrounding our own memories. So, doing the exact same thing again, wouldn't it be possible to just destroy the curse altogether?"

"Better question, how did forcing yourself to remember work?" Xunahs asked. The other two seemed to ignore him, having no answers themselves.

It was the Nobody's turn to shake his head. He rested his elbows on his knees to get his hands to prop up his chin and said, "It's not that easy. I've tried it on everyone here. The curse is powerful, that much if obvious. It is possible to break the curse surrounding our bodies, I found something that looks very much a darkness spewing version of myself in my mind, but when I tried talking to it, it attacked me and I couldn't defend myself at all. It was like it had all of my abilities pre-curse bundled up inside of it. I could wear Flonne's pendant and try it that way, but she might not survive long enough for us to eliminate the curse. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to kill someone just because I want arm hair again. Being a body-bald bishie demon is very annoying, but I can't be selfish about being one step closer to being human again."

"You're right... so what if we got stronger and we tried to coordinate a team attack on our cursed selves inside our minds?" Xunahs asked.

Kevin sighed and looked at the wall between the two people in front of him. "No, it's impossible for us to enter each other's minds and having a physical form. The only way you can enter your own mind is if you start inspecting your own mind with a mental probe. When you're in there, time in the real world stands still and you could spend millions of years inside your mind doing whatever, and the only thing that would change when you come back out is your ability to do whatever you were doing. Considering how it's your mind, you might be able to create things to spar with to increase your own fighting abilities, but I wouldn't do it."

"Why not?" Lochit asked.

"Because, that'd be cheating. That, and if you got yourself to master your sword fighting or whatever, using those techniques would be outside of the realm of your body's capabilities and you'd get hurt even attempting to do them. Since mental attacks can't be launched against you so that a physical version of the assailant is in your mind, it becomes pointless to train yourself mentally unless you get possessed or something."

"...Well fine, Mr. Optimistic. So, what do we do now that you've made it apparent that we can't do anything to make ourselves better?" Lochit asked, annoyed at the Nobody.

Kevin grinned and stood up. "Glad you asked, Lochit. We are now going to put Laharl to the test. While Aramis is getting Laharl to find his pet, we're going to build a maze for him to get through. Everyone else has offered to pitch in, so this should be a relatively easy task for us. How do you feel about doing a bit of walking, Lochit?"

The girl got out of her bed and jogged in place for a couple of seconds. She did some stretches and said, "Yeah. I think I can do it, I'm feeling pretty good. I just have a bit of a headache, that's all."

* * *

"Hmm... so you plan on facing me alone, Kin? Don't tell me that your memories of fighting on our side has taught you nothing of my abilities." Jesse drawled. Marie scowled at the Nobody and looked over at Jasmine, "Sorry about not going with them..."

"Pfft, buddy. The only thing I forgot was what Superior's face looked like and the name of the person behind the damn face. My memory of your abilities is still here in my head." She replied, totally ignoring Marie.

The Nobody chuckled at Jasmine's words and replied snobbishly, "Hahaha... and you still want to fight me? You're just as naive as you are weak if you really think you stand a chance."

Jasmine sighed at his comments and said, "Of course, of course. Goodness, kid. You're actually younger than I am and you're talking to me like you've won this. Do you have any idea how annoying it gets?"

"Annoying? I have no idea how annoying it could possibly be, I'm not the inferior fighter here."

"Oh for..." Jasmine's eyes widened and she stepped back in terror. She pointed over Jesse's shoulder and screamed, "HOLY SHIT! LOOK OUT!"

In response, the Nobody crossed his arms and smiled smugly at her. "Oh come now, do you think that'll..." He realized Marie had left Jasmine's side and he turned around just in time to get a giant spiked gauntlet to the face.

"Work? Apparently not." The girl ran at the Nobody and prepared Moon Blade to slice him in half. He got back up, glaring furiously at her and a dagger appeared in hand. He raised it high up in the air and swung it down with all his strength, causing a black line to appear in front of him.

Jasmine stopped dead in her tracks and scowled at the Nobody. "It's not going to work that easily, buddy." Jesse grinned at her and stood there, not changing his position. Jasmine was about to run around the thin line when Marie darted past her, with a gold and silver rapier in hand, with every intention of making Jesskebab, but the line moved in front of her and opened wide, sucking her in.

"MARIE!" Jasmine ran towards the Nobody, holding both katanas tightly, both blazing brilliantly. She ran full speed towards the barrier and jumped over it, using the fire from her swords to propel her into the air. She landed behind Jesse and spun around, slicing his back with Sun Blade.

He stumbled forwards and just before he fell into the hole he made, Jasmine grabbed him roughly by the scruff of the neck and brought him to her side. She held an extinguished Moon Blade at his throat and hissed, "Bring her back, you son of a bitch."

Jesse began laughing at her demands, but stopped as the hot metal pressed against his throat. "I can't bring her back out. You know that... or did your memories of my abilities really leave your mind as well?"

"Of course not!" She shouted.

A pale arm came out from the hole and pulled the body it was attached to out with it. The girl gasped in shock as Marie stood up, looking pale and like she had been attacked by wild dogs. Her eyes snapped open, completely black and she stepped towards Jasmine, hissing something completely unintelligible.

"Marie...?"

Jesse slipped away from the girl and started to cackle. "Do you like it? That hole is a wonderful invention of mine. It can fire people into the realm of the Heartless; one will take her identity and be sealed in forever. The second thing it does...? It gets set free!"

"So she's..."

"Gone. There's no way you can bring her back either, you see those Heartless are particularly vicious and don't mind a fresh corpse's heart rather than something from a living thing."

The hole snapped shut behind the Heartless and it started walking towards Jasmine, its nails growing in length and beginning to resemble thin blades. Jasmine got ready to defend and the Heartless lunged at her, making an ear-piercing shriek.

She ducked under the Heartless and swung Sun Blade, cutting the tendons in its right leg. It landed on both feet as if Jasmine had done nothing to it and Jesse started laughing again, "Inflicting physical wounds on them won't change anything! You could slice it in half horizontally or diagonally or vertically, doesn't matter how and it will still fight! The only way to kill them is to make sure they stay down by releasing their captive hearts. And without a Keyblade, that's impossible!"

It was Jasmine's turn to act triumphant. She dismissed both of her weapons and said, "A Keyblade? I thought you'd never ask." She held her right hand out and light started to form around it.

"W-what? Impossible!"

* * *

"Hmph. The three of you are very problematic. If I didn't lose my damn arm, I would take care of you myself. But, there's no use in complaining about that right now."

Sora, Riku and Tom stopped as the stairwell around them became surrounded with darkness and Halixat started speaking again. "Even though I won't take care of you, that doesn't mean you won't be killed because of something I did. It's a shame I wouldn't be able to harvest your hearts, Sora and Riku, they are very powerful things, but I figure that making sure you're dead is the best option, there's no way for you to get out of that unless I want you to."

The stairs disappeared under their feet and ghostly wails filled the room. Halixat's disembodied voice laughed one last time and the room lit up to reveal a cemetery. "So, it looks like we're in a cemetery. Well, isn't this just great? Oh well, the corpses in the ground shouldn't be too much of an issue!" Tom slapped his palm on the ground and waited for the ground to start moving, but nothing happened. He pulled his hand back and said, "Well. This is bad... there is nothing under us at all. It looks like this is just one elaborate illusion."

Halixat appeared in front of them and after they prepared themselves for a fight, she waved her hand at them dismissively. She walked over to a nearby tombstone and sat down on it, smiling at them mischievously. "There's no point in attacking me right now, kiddies. I'm not really here. But, I will tell you what's going on just so that you can feel better. You see, you're in my world. A little something I created simply from the darkness inside of me. All of us Heartless have one. I would like to say it is a last resort to drag someone into our own little worlds to make them fight us, but that would be a lie. It's just a place we have home court advantage. In a world like this, we are basically physical gods if we know how to manipulate the environment. I have been working on it, and luckily for you, I haven't mastered it. You're just my test to see how well I can manipulate this world."

* * *

"What the hell is this?!" Dyme stepped away from Laharl as the Overlord had a fit about his castle walls being covered in ice. "If I find the bastard responsible for this, I'll..." There was a high pitched buzzing sound and a holographic image of Kevin appeared in the castle gateway, which got an ooh and an ahh from Flonne and Tahlia.

The holographic Kevin bowed deeply, sweeping its right hand to the side, beckoning the group in to the castle. "Welcome, Overlord Laharl. I am sure you had fun rounding up Aramis' zombies for him?" Laharl stared angrily at the projection, which looked panicked for a second. "Right. Moving on, the castle as you can see, has been covered with ice. Your goal is to make your way to the throne room by navigating the frozen passages, surviving the traps and navigating the obstacles left for you. When you sit down on the throne, you will meet your next challenge. Until then, Prince." It bowed again and disappeared.

"I'm going to kill him."

* * *

"Man oh man, you really kicked ass on this one, Lochit. It almost makes me worry about what you could have done with your powers back at their best." Xunahs said, in awe of the frozen walls surrounding the two teens.

"Oh, I had help from Kevin and the vassals. He supplied the water while they gave me the stuff to get me recharged. So, how did your part go?" Lochit asked.

The teen rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. "Well, I did some work down in the basement, setting up part two. It's going to be awesome!"

Kevin looked from the boy to the girl from behind them and smiled widely. "Well, my part is done as well. I've got Laharl going in the maze that Lochit set up, and the traps are all set and operational. Now then, I'm going to get started on my other job. Play nice, you two."

The two watched Kevin run around the corner and as soon as he left, an awkward silence filled the room. Xunahs was going to try to cut it, but he managed a cough instead. "So, what do you think he meant by 'play nicely'?" The boy asked, his voice unusually high. "Well I definitely don't like you if that's what you're getting at!" Lochit yelled.

The boy looked taken aback by the sudden outburst and cried, "AND I SURE AS HELL DON'T LIKE YOU EITHER!"

"Good!"

"I agree!"

Flonne looked up and gasped in shock. "There's a lovers' squabble! I need to help if my name isn't Space Detective Flonne!"

As the angel trainee ran off, Etna yelled, "But it isn't! I thought you were Justice Flonne (or something like that)!" The angel trainee was oblivious to what the demon said and continued running.

Kevin cracked his knuckles and cackled gleefully. _Yes... that's right little angel, run off from the group. Leave them stranded without someone to heal their wounds... I can't believe how easily Xunahs and Lochit got into the act though! It's like they are actually in love. But that's impossible, I have to give my say before he goes and gets a girlfriend._

* * *

Jasmine lunged forward at the Heartless and punched it hard in the chest with the light around her fist still glowing brightly. She put her left hand on her wrist and pushed forwards with all of her strength, causing an explosion of light that completely disintegrated the Heartless in front of her.

"B—but how?! That weapon is only supposed to be a prototype!" Jasmine grinned ferally at Jesse and let the light around her hand disappear. "That's true, it is. Dennis was making the weapon under Superior's orders. This little baby, in theory can one shot any Heartless, even one as powerful as Venxik. Just before I was sent into the past, I ran into Dennis' lab and stole the weapon and burned the blueprints. I didn't think that it would be fair if we just had some sort of super cannon that did our work for us. Where's the fun in that?"

"Didn't stop you from using it..." Jesse replied. The girl laughed and said, "Well no. I'm a bit cut on time right now, and since this thing is only good for six shots, I figured I might as well start burning them away before this thing gets taken."

"I see..." Five more black holes appeared around Jesse and spindly limbed Heartless stepped out from the holes, hissing at Jasmine like crazed beasts. A grin creased the girl's lips and the light returned to her hand. "So, you want me to lose my superweapon too? Well, I guess since you asked so politely..." She waved her hand horizontally in front of her, causing a beam of white light to shoot out from the arc made and destroy each of the Heartless that were advancing to her.

The light shot into the holes and several anguished cries came out from the holes as they closed. With the distraction of the screams, Jesse ran for Jasmine, getting ready to stab her. The girl recovered just in time to spin to the right and drive her elbow into his spine. The Nobody fell forwards and face planted into the cold, hard stone floor. He got back up and growled something under his breath and a dark purple light exploded out from under him, coming off of runic symbols in the ground.

The light washed over Jesse and he stood up. The crackling of electricity filled the air and the Nobody took in a deep breath. "That's more like it." Electricity extended form his fingertips and he ran off the closing circle and waved his hands in the air in front of him, firing bolts of lightning at her. She dodged them and summoned her swords. "So you're going to fight seriously now?" She asked.

She gasped in pain as his fist connected with her stomach. She looked to where he was standing before in shock. He was still there, but he was punching her in the gut, she could see him right in front of her. "Clones, gotta love them." The Jesse standing further back disappeared and the one in front of her ground his knuckles deeper into her gut and pulled back. He grabbed her by the arm and forced her to the ground and stepped on her back. Holding his electrically charged hand outward, facing the back of her head, he said, "Good night, Kin."

* * *

"I'll tell you."

"Tell us what?" Sora asked.

"About how soon you're going to die."

Tom, getting frustrated summoned his axe and yelled, "How about this? Instead of talking like a twit, get out your little undead minions out so that we can cream them and continue on our merry way!"

The Heartless stood up and shrugged her shoulders. Her image flickered slightly and she said, "I guess I could speed this process up a bit." She snapped her fingers and disappeared. The ground around them began trembling violently and several blood red skeletons popped out of the ground and began advancing towards the group.

The three immediately turned their backs to one another, to cover each other's blindspots and Tom said, "Well then. This is bad for me, there's no ground for me to control. So I guess I'm just going to have to rely on my axe. I hope you guys don't slow me down too much."

He ran at the closest red skeleton and smashed its head in with one swing of his axe and the others, seeing the threat, ran over to him surprisingly fast for beings without muscles to propel their limbs. The Nobody held his axe out and spun around in a circle and just as it connected with the nearest skeleton's ribcage, he swung it upwards, severing its head and brought it back down, destroying the rest of its body.

"Two down, five to go! Are you guys even going to do anything?" He shouted as he began working on the next skeleton.

Sora and Riku ran to help Tom by taking the remaining four skeletons and as Sora finished the last one, fire erupted from five of the tombstones and Mordicants climbed out from each of the graves. Halixat appeared again on top of the cross and Goofy and Donald appeared next to her, stuck in glass prisons.

"Jesse sure was good at taking those fakes down to you guys. He acted like he thought they were the real Donald and Goofy! Also, if you think you can take care of these Mordicants as easily as the ones back on your home world, don't kid yourselves. There is a huge difference in their strength compared to those wusses back on your home world. They are exactly as strong as the ones from the Old Kingdom, and those things are beastly. Here's the deal. You guys survive; I give your buddies back. If you lose, my hungry pets get some food. Oh, and you have ten minutes."

She disappeared and one of the Mordicants near Tom lunged at him, pinning him to the ground. The Nobody tried to squirm out of its crushing grip as its fiery maw closed into rip off his head, but couldn't even manage to move his arms and legs even an inch under the Greater Dead's weight.

Suddenly, a barrage of Firaga and Blizzaga spells were blasted into the Mordicant's side and it was thrown off by the force of the attack. Tom got back up onto his feet and flashed Sora a thumbs up and turned around to face his opponent.

* * *

_I won't give up. There are still too many questions that need to be answered. How did I come here? Why is it that I have these powers in the first place? He's the only one that can give me the answer..._ "AND I WON'T LET YOU TAKE THAT CHANCE FROM ME!" A giant axe swung down through the darkness and sliced an advancing Heartless in two. The girl ran forwards, swinging out with her arms, hearing the loud crashes as the armour floating behind her did the same.

She saw five new holes opening in the darkness and the Heartless lost all interest in her and fought viciously to be the first out. There were five beams of light that shot through the holes and hit the Heartless, obliterating all of them on contact.

Ignoring the anguished howls of the Heartless, Marie sprinted forwards, kicking out at any of the Heartless that sluggishly tried to grab her legs. There was a loud shriek of fury from the back of the room which froze the girl in her tracks. She turned around to face the source of the noise and only saw two large, glowing red eyes in the distance. The Heartless around her, with their pale yellow eyes faded and their composite darkness flowed towards the gaping maw of the giant Heartless.

There was another blood curdling shriek and a silver rapier slashed the air in front of her, cutting through her armour like it was made of warm butter. The girl turned around as she saw the thin silver blade pull back for another swing and sprinted as fast as she could for the closing holes, not wanting to be anywhere near the monstrosity that just inhaled several thousand Heartless and thrashed her weapon as if it were nothing.

When the hole was no more than five feet away, the girl leapt forwards and through the hole. The rapier sliced through the opening and widened the hole further by ripping apart the space between all of the other holes.

Jesse's hand stopped glowing and he looked up from Jasmine and at Marie, eyes wide with terror. "You _fool_! What have you done?!"

"From the looks of it, she's unleashed an unspeakable evil onto the mortal plain. Jeeze, Jesse. You surprise me more and more every day. Keeping Blood Lust of all things hostage in your little pocket dimension? Pretty tricky. I am just surprised it was able to rip through the fabric of space/time so easily. That could be a problem."

Jesse and the others turned their heads to face the source of the voice. A woman with white form fitting pants and coat with two long white tails coming from the back walked down the spiral staircase, a silver mask covered her face from view. She saw Jasmine and smiled. "I see you've broken free of Superior. Congratulations Jasmine, I suppose he'll have to listen to my judgment better from here on out."

"R-Reina! Please, it isn't what it looks like! I—" Jesse said, getting on his knees and looking up pleadingly at the woman.

"Silence, traitor. Working with Halixat when you know full well she's our enemy. I've watched you since the day you've been plucked out from your own dimension, Jesse. What you don't seem to get is that here, where you live now is that women are nowhere near as weak as they may seem back where you came from. You say you're the best sorcerer the Dark Court has? You don't even hold a candle up to Gretchen."

"But she's..."

"A girl? Yeah, she is. I'm a girl too, and guess what?" Blood Lust's rapier flew through the air towards the second in command and she raised her hand up in the air and caught it as if it were a toy sword and not a steel blade and squeezed tightly. There was a loud crack and ice crystals formed around her hand and raced down the blade and into the giant, gaping hole. There was a flash of pale blue light, which illuminated the giant Heartless for a split second and Reina let go and forced the blade back into the hole.

"I don't take bullshit from anybody." There was a loud _crack_ and Jesse looked down at his feet and screamed in horror as ice started crawling up his legs. He tried to break free, but he couldn't move an inch. The ice continued its way up, now covering his chest and the last thing he saw before he was completely covered was Reina smirking at him.

The woman turned around and faced the gaping hole. She scowled slightly, noticing that Blood Lust was starting to break free from its prison. A cell phone materialized in front of her and she flipped it open. "Yo, Superior. We have a dimensional rift... No you didn't tell me how to seal those up you bastard! Yes, Jesse is gone. No I haven't seen Sora or Riku. Yes, Jasmine is right here, do you want her terminated as well?"

There was a pause and the hall was filled with an eerie silence. Reina was staring at the still pinned girl and said, "No? Okay. Yes, that's right, the mask removed her memories of our faces and all that other stuff. So, are you coming to seal this hole or should I just let Blood Lust out? ...Yes, Jesse is frozen. You want me to make sure he's dead?" She grinned savagely at the Nobody, she could have sworn she heard a whimper coming from him. "I'll see what I can do. Okay and for this fucking hole. Tell me how to close it, you son of a bitch!"

She nodded a few times as he rattled off instructions and said, "Okay. Gotcha, good bye." She turned to Jesse and snapped her fingers. The ice exploded in a ball of steam and she grabbed him before he could make his escape. The woman dragged the Nobody to the hole, kicking and screaming and threw him as far in as she could. The ice surrounding the giant Heartless shattered and the hole started closing with Jesse running back to her, screaming to be let out. Just before he got to the hole, he was run through the skull with the rapier and the hole was sealed shut.

"Sweet dreams, Jesse."

Reina turned around and walked over to Jasmine, who was still on the ground. She helped the girl up and brushed some dust off of her. She stared at the girl for a moment and said, "I see you're doing well, Jasmine. Don't get pissed because a scumbag like him beat you, okay? Because your heart is back with you, you have to readjust to fighting with your emotions combating your actions. I'm going through the same thing too. Thanks to Superior and a little bit of elbow grease, I was reunited with my heart. Anyways, Jasmine. Please give Kevin my best wishes." She looked over to where the hole was before she closed it up and said, "I need to find Vince again. This is becoming a drag." And she disappeared.

* * *

"Get out of my way! Reflega!" The Mordicant crashed into the light dome surrounding Sora and was sent flying back as the dome exploded, its fragments tearing limbs from the Greater Dead. Tom smashed his axe into the head of one of the other Mordicants to hold it down and a swarm of small, sharp stones flew out of his large pockets in his jean shorts and tore the Greater Dead apart.

Riku ran to one of the charging beasts and sliced through its body down the middle with Way To The Dawn. It let out one ear splitting screech and its Free Magic flames burst from within its core, devouring it from the inside out.

He turned around to assist Tom, but was knocked unconscious as another one of the Mordicants lunged at him and pushed him backwards, getting his head smashed against a tombstone.

"Riku, no!" There was a flash of silver light and Sora, in Final Form sliced through the Mordicant he was fighting and rushed over to the one that was lowering its head to eat the other Keybearer. Sora rammed into it full speed to throw it off his childhood friend and rested him against a tombstone. The Mordicant roared in fury at losing its prey and ran full speed at Sora, whose body flickered slightly. Fire exploded around the Mordicant and Sora appeared behind it, holding Ultima Weapon and Fenrir out as the Greater Dead fell to the ground.

Tom rolled backwards to avoid the swing of the Mordicant's arm and got back on his feet. He gripped the handle of the axe tightly, ran forwards and swung the axe at the Greater Dead's chest as if it were a golf club. The Mordicant was propelled into the air and Tom jumped after it and swung at its head, used the axe that was lodged in the beast's head to give himself leverage and propel himself into the air and surrounded his feet with the rocks in his pockets, getting them to form one giant spike. The Nobody fell through the air and through the Mordicant's head, crying out in pain as the Free Magic flames lashed out at his back, causing excruciating pain as he passed them.

He landed on the ground and collapsed onto his knees. The axe landed beside him with a dull _thunk_ and his vision started to blur. _Why am I feeling weak all of a sudden? The burns can't be that deep, can they? I can't feel anything..._ He fell forwards, his head colliding with the ground just in time for the last Mordicant to lunge at him from behind one of the graves.

There was a sudden chill in the air and the Greater Dead was completely frozen over. A large piece of ice flew through the air and crashed through the Mordicant and its icy prison. The Dead disappeared in a burst of Free Magic fire and Reina stepped over to Tom and removed his burnt shirt. Sora ran over to Reina to engage her, but she waved him off and made a wall of ice that separated the two. She bent over Tom's charred back and cringed, parts of his spine exposed to the open air.

_I don't have much time._ She placed her hands just over the wound, ignoring Sora's banging on the thick ice wall and let magic flow from her hands and into the wound, fixing it up and the fresh, exposed skin showed no sign of the previous third degree burns. She picked up the shirt and a white bag materialized in front of her. She dug into the bag and pulled out a black t-shirt and dark green coat. She turned around and let the ice wall crumble. Just before Sora could reach her, she disappeared and the entire graveyard disappeared, leaving them alone on the stairs again.

* * *

"Haahaa... HAHAHAAA!" The icy walls on either side of Laharl and his small group collapsed, cutting the Overlord off from his vassals and Kevin jumped down from the high ceiling, landing silently on the ice-covered floor. "Welcome, Overlord Laharl. I am sure you enjoy your new accommodations. I took the liberty of removing our friends from the equation by... hmm?" He stopped midspeech, noticing the shimmering frozen rubble behind the Overlord was moving.

He jumped away just in time to avoid a spear that was aimed for his chest and scowled at Etna, who had thrown the weapon. He opened a portal and left the group before they could chase him.

He appeared back at the throne room and sat in the chair and heaved a big sigh. "This is not going how I hoped it would go." Xunahs ran up to Kevin and said, "Hey! The ice walls are shattering, I'm going to go check it out!" He ran off before Kevin could yell at him and call him a moron.

A few moments later, the teen let out a a scream of terror and ran back to Kevin, looking horrified. "Dude, Laharl's here, and he looks pissed."

"Give me back my castle before I murder you!" There was an intense aura that blasted apart the ice walls as if they were made of thin glass and Laharl walked up to Kevin, a strange kind of darkness flowing around him. "You have ten seconds to surrender before I kill you all."

The Nobody bowed and walked up to Laharl. "And you have passed the test, Laharl! If you can't get through the obstacles ahead, smash everything down and make people piss their pants. A strategy worthy of even the greatest of Overlords!"

* * *

"Okay you second rate vampire." Halixat wheezed as she walked up to him. She had stopped the bleeding from the stump that was once her arm. "It's your turn to make our guests feel all warm and cozy at home."

"B-but they're far too strong for me! I will die before I even get a chance to make my move!" The vampire replied, backing away from the infuriated Heartless, desperately trying to find a way out.

The Heartless spat at the floor and continued her advance. "What happened to your hatred at being belittled, Maderas? You lost two of your own minions in one go because you weren't assertive enough to show them you meant business. You showed them that you're really a coward, and they used that against you..."

Maderas stopped backing away and stood his ground. He glowered at the Heartless and said angrily, "So, you're saying that I'm a coward?"

Halixat almost forgot the pain from her missing arm and smiled, feeling the anger growing inside of the demon. "Of course I am! You ran away from a flat chested, scantily clad girl and a boy that was losing his memories! Of course you're a coward!" She grinned, seeing the vampire begin to tremble with fury and she whispered, "However, I can help you become stronger, Maderas. I can give you the strength to destroy those that oppose you and to help you claim your rightful title of Overlord. The title you so richly deserved before you let those children get the best of you. Even the gods themselves would quake in fear at your fury."

The demon glared at her, wary of her rapidly widening smile. "And how will you help me?"

The Heartless stopped her advance and stood straight. "How? Simple..." She ran towards Maderas and stabbed him the chest with a small knife that she had hidden in her long, black sleeve. "By showing you the power of the Heartless!"

* * *

Sora: Doctor, is he going to be okay? Please Dr. Kairi! Tell me he's going to be okay!

Kairi: Well...

Riku: Oh man! I can't take it, tell me Dr. Kairi!

Sora: Please! For Mr. Bobo-buns!

Riku and Kairi: "Bobo-buns?"

Sora: -whispering- Stick with the script!

Kairi: Oh, right! No, Sora. I am afraid to say he won't be cute and cuddley just like the way you remembered him. But he can be salvaged... Made better!

Sora: Really?

Kairi: Yes! Cybernetic implants!

Kairi: Next time on Noon: A Dawn of a Dusky Noonish Day. Kairi, The Amazing Surgeon! Open your heart to love!

Sora: I must ask... does your method involve a chainsaw?

Kairi: Perhaps 3

Author's Note: Lotsa stuff happening in my life currently. Bear with me folks. Update next Thursday because I'm nice like that. It's going to be a doozy, believe it or not. So far, it's like... 6k words big and not anywhere near being done. And I'll be doing my best to make the chapter perfect for my reading public (you guys).


	15. Race Against Time Part One

Author's Note: I am indeed, alive. More on that at the end of the chapter, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: The Race Against Time: Part One

For the second time in five minutes, Kevin struck the boulder across from him with a ball of lightning. Xunahs and Tahlia looked up from where they were sitting, to see the Nobody looking furiously at the boulder as if it had done everything wrong to him that ever happened.

"I can't believe that bastard!" He shouted. "During breakfast, he lets out a huge burp that causes a few of the buttresses in the castle to fall out of place and then he gets a creepy-ass grin and tells us to come up here and do some patrolling!"

Tahlia nodded, sympathising with Kevin's annoyance and said, "Yeah. But what's confusing me is the fact that we're on a floating rock in space, and we aren't gasping for air."

The Nobody sighed and lazily drew pictures in the hard rock below him with a marker. "Doesn't matter, does it? This place is boring as all hell, yeah, and really. What kind of name is Valgipus 9 for a rock anyways?"

Xunahs shrugged and looked over to the left and he smiled excitedly as he saw something in the distance. He got up onto his feet and tried to get a better view and finally said, "Hey guys, look over there, to the east. There's something coming in fast." Xunahs pointed to a large object flying towards them through space. As it passed over their heads, it dropped a shuttle that sped down towards the Netherworld below them. As the shuttle passed by, the teen gasped in pain and fell onto his knees, clutching at his chest with his right hand.

He felt Kevin wrap his arm around his waist and Tahlia slid under his shoulder. The two Nobodys worked together to pull the teen up to his feet and as the capsule went out of sight, the pain went away.

"Xunahs? Is everything okay?" His brother asked, his red eyes staring at him with concern. The teen stumbled backwards as his vision started to blur. "Of... of course I'm okay, just a bit tired, nothing big." His eyes closed and he fell backwards, hitting his head hard against the rock Kevin had been hitting with lightning earlier.

"XUNAHS!"

* * *

-an hour earler-

A tall, well built man in a blue space suit leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms out and making a loud yawn. "I can't believe it, I will be a hero! I will defeat the Overlord that threatens Earth and be recognized just as those that came before me have been!"

"Here is your tea, Mister Sauron." A woman with blond hair and large breasts, wearing a bikini walked up to a young man sitting next to the man that has just yawned and offered him a tray with a mug of steaming tea, which he graciously accepted with a black gloved hand.

"Thank you very much, Jennifer." He took a sip and faced the man next to him and said, "And you as well, Captain Gordon. Thank you for accepting me on such short notice. I understand that you were ready to head to the Netherworld before General Carter forced me onto you."

The man jumped slightly and let out a loud, forced laugh. "Of course not! If Carter ordered it, I must follow his orders in order to do my job, isn't that right?"

The man next to him nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that's very true. You will make a fine hero after I have located the Overlord for you."

"Y-you really think so?"

"I know so! You are brimming with the confidence that the people of your world _need_. You are the kind of man that will laugh in the face of danger and then pound its face in for justice! In my twenty six years, I have only seen a few people like that, but your heroism shines far above their own!"

"Thank you, Sauron... but I was wondering something."

"Yes?"

"Your name, isn't that the same name as a character from an old paperback novel?"

The man chuckled heartily and said, "Yes it is. You are the first person to point that out to me, Gordon, you are a very sharp man! My parents named me this. They always did like ancient works of literature."

"Really? So does Jennifer! She is a real history buff." Gordon replied.

"Oh Captain, you're too much..." Jennifer said, blushing slightly at the compliment.

"Ah yes, where is that little robot? Thursday, was that his name?" Sauron asked.

"I asked Thursday to prepare your shuttle. You will be landing close to where we believe the Overlord resides. You will be ready to be launched in an hour."

"...Launched? As in... shot from a ship and into a planet?"

"Yep!"

The man's pinkish cheeks went pale and he placed the mug in between his black jean covered legs. "Haha... oh Jennifer, you are such a kidder." Gordon let out a loud laugh and ruffled the man's blond hair, "What's the matter? Nervous?"

"No, of course not. After all, I know it's just a joke."

"A joke? AHAHA!"

Sauron's eyes went blank and he smacked his forehead with both his hands and held them there. _Shit. I think I want to go back home now.

* * *

_

-present time according to Kevin's group-

"Will he be okay?" Lochit looked up at the nurse of the castle, Ema, hoping for good news.

The woman shook her head and said, "For now, he will be. But something is eating away at him from the inside. He's literally rotting away. I noticed it was happening when he checked into the hospital the first time, but it was slow and not overly concerning, but something that he encountered on him sped up the process massively. He had a few months before he would have died; now he only has a day. Any physical activity besides breathing will speed it up even further." She paused, letting the words sink in for the teenagers present and said, "I'm sorry. There is nothing that can be done. It appears that this is the work of shoddy necromancy. Your friend died at some point, and some second rate necromancer brought him back, but wasn't able to stabilize his body. But this time, if his body fades away, so will his soul. He won't exist after twenty four hours."

"Wh—what can we do?" The girl asked, holding Xunahs' scaled hand in hers. "There has to be something! Maybe you could counter the rotting with magic or some sort of chemical that would destroy whatever's eating him from the inside!"

Kevin got up, staring blankly at his unconscious brother. "I think I know what made this happen. There was a shuttle that was jettisoned from a ship flying over our heads. It landed somewhere in the Sea of Gehenna. Maybe if I went there and found it, I could find what made Xunahs' rotting speed up and get it to reverse the effects."

"And what if it isn't there?" Dyme asked

"Then if I can't find it and Xunahs does die, I will do everything in my power to make sure whoever was flying that ship and whoever is in charge of them pays."

Lochit got up and said, "I'll come too!"

The Nobody shook his head and said, "No. I think we can at least slow down the rotting if you cool down the temperature in here. Make it a freezer. That way the rotting won't happen as quickly and he will live a bit longer. Tahlia and Dyme, I want you guys to come with me. If something in there is alive, and it isn't friendly, I might need backup to subdue it long enough to get answers from its mind."

The girl looked downcast by her orders and looked back up with determination. "Fine, but if Xunahs dies, I get first picks on the revenge."

"Deal."

* * *

"Marie, get down!" The girl in question got down and covered her head with her hands as the ground below them started shaking.

"What's happening? Is it an earthquake?"

Jasmine grabbed her by the shoulders and dragged her under an archway and shouted, "I have no idea! Just stay here until it's over."

The walls themselves began vibrating violently and bricks were thrown out of place, landing some fifteen feet away from the walls. There was a loud roar as their only escape route collapsed in on itself and the spiralling stairs that lead up to the top and to where Sora, Riku and Tom were collapsed.

The rafters above their heads gave a groan of protest, but broke apart, letting the ceiling fall without any support to hold it up anymore.

"What? We haven't fallen? Where did the stairs go?" Sora looked around and saw Tom standing up with his arms spread out. Donald and Goofy were lying down next to Riku and Sora realized they were on a stone platform. "Tom, did you do this?"

The Nobody nodded slightly and began raising his arms. The platform they were on began rising higher and higher until there was a landing. The group got off and walked onto a carpeted floor. The room smelled musky and was full of settling dust. Tom fell onto his knees and began breathing heavily.

Sora noticed the Nobody's distress and held onto him to give him support. "Tom, are you okay?"

"Oh, don't worry, he'll be fine." Sora and Riku looked up from Tom and saw the dust parting. Halixat stepped out and into the open, looking smug. "It's a shame he tried to do so much after taking such an injury though. If he held that oversized rock for a second longer... poof. Just like that, and the rest of you would have plummeted to your deaths. I like how that would work out... kinda wish Rould was still around so that he could turn back the clock a bit so I can make that become a reality."

"You... you're that girl that kidnapped Kairi! Where is she?! What have you done with her?" Sora got up onto his feet with Ultima Weapon in hand and silver light started shimmering from him.

Halixat giggled slightly and shook her finger as if she were scolding a naughty child. "Sora, don't use that tone of voice with me... after all, something bad could happen!"

"Just tell me where she is!"

"In the tallest tower of the tallest castle... or some stupid BS like that. Venxik didn't want me to go telling people where we live. I don't see why not though, it's not like a bunch of punks like you can do much to us."

"Heh..." Tom got up into a sitting position and looked over at the Heartless. "I'm sure our good old friends from the past thought the same, Halixat. I'm sure Ansem and Xemnas both thought Sora and Riku would be nothing more than minor annoyances, even though they were well aware of the power they possessed. I'm positive Raynx and Ryan saw us as lost children. One was crushed under a boulder and the other had his intestines skewered."

Halixat, examining her black painted fingernails with a bored expression looked up and said, "Your point being?"

Sora disappeared from sight and she cringed, feeling the cold metal of two Keyblades resting against the back of her neck. "I think his point was that you should take us seriously." She stiffened, feeling a third Keyblade resting under her chin and she saw Riku standing in front of her, scowling. "Now tell us where our friend is before you lose your ability to breathe."

"Or maybe you should stop looking like idiots and talking to thin air." Halixat flickered out of sight and Riku was pushed into Sora. "I figure that if you are actually as incompetent as you seem, I have every right to belittle you. So, how about you guys prove me wrong. Maderas! Your mistress needs you to entertain out guests!"

* * *

"Hey, Jasmine, did it stop?"

"Yeah. I think so. Can you help me up? I think I broke something."

"Of course..." Marie grabbed Jasmine by the shoulders and helped her up onto her feet. She positioned herself so that she could support the girl and started walking towards an opening in the rubble surrounding them.

There was an ear splitting screech that filled the ruined halls and the two girls stopped. The air in the middle of the room they had their fight with Jesse in pulsated and a black line began to form as if the air were being split apart.

A portal opened in front of it and a man stepped out of it, examining the quickly widening line. "I see.... Reina messed up, didn't she?" Marie gasped at the voice and ran towards the man, dragging Jasmine behind her. "SUPERIOR!"

The man turned to face her and sighed. Jasmine glowered at the mask that hid the man's identity and Marie did the same. "I want answers and I want them now."

The man laughed at her demanding voice and the girl began to cower. Jasmine reached into her mind, feeling the fear in Marie's mind. "You want answers, do you? Let me guess, you want to know why you got the ability to rewrite reality? It was never there before, was it? Hmm... if I remember correctly, I did experiments with rewriting reality. For some reason, human beings with even an ounce of magic in their bodies couldn't do it properly; only those that had no magical powers whatsoever could get the ability to rewrite reality. And even then, those that attempted it died painfully and without a shred of sanity in their shattered minds. You were the sole survivor of my project, Marie... Heh. Marie Suzette, a fitting name to say the least. A girl that is invincible due to her inability to die because she can write herself back into existence. A girl that could dominate all of the life or destroy it with only a few strokes of the pen. That's who you are, Marie. The final product of my research."

He sighed with delight and looked back again at the widening rift in the space beside him. "However, you aren't necessary anymore. You don't have the cold heart or the strength to take on the powers given to you. Farewell."

"Wait! I can't do that, there are limits to what I can do! I tried it myself!"

"Hahaha... no, you're absolutely incorrect. If you wanted to, you could disassemble the universe and remake it in your image, you just never knew how. I made sure I sealed that knowledge away from you and convinced you that you can't do anything given the "rules" you have through illusions and telepathy. Actually, during the time I monitored you, you destroyed four worlds. I just tricked you into believing they were attacked by Heartless. Millions have died at your hands alone, Marie. I'm jealous."

Marie dropped Jasmine and stepped away. "No... no, that can't be true. I'm not a murderer! I care about making people happy!"

Superior threw his head back and laughed. "No. No, you're very wrong, girl. If you wanted to make people happy, don't you think you wouldn't have kidnapped random men and forced them to have sex on your own twisted little world that you made for yourself? Face it; you're a selfish girl that will subconsciously destroy whatever makes her unhappy. Our only problem is that you don't want to kill people when you're aware of that power to pass judgement on another human life. But for your crimes, I can tell you right now that you are going straight to hell. No one cares about you. The only reason Jasmine saved you is because she pitied you. The only reason people smiled at you was because they wanted to be polite and not tell you to get lost. You are a lost cause to everyone and you will stay that way. Even Jasmine can't stand to look you in the eyes."

He pointed at the fallen girl who got up and summoned her two swords. She walked towards Marie, the two swords in her hands burning brightly.

"Jasmine? Jasmine! Stop, he's controlling you! Please!" She watched her friend walk closer to her, ignoring everything that was said. Marie backed up against a wall and started crying. She felt the strength in her legs leave and collapsed onto her knees. "Superior's lying! I didn't kill anyone! I wouldn't!"

"That isn't why I'm killing you... you just aren't useful to me anymore, that's all. I always hated you, and now, you don't have to be a problem anymore. Superior's right, I always pitied you. I had nothing but contempt for your very existence." She stabbed Marie through the chest and said, "I hope you burn in hell."

Marie choked out one final sob and fell forwards against the sword lodged in her chest. Superior snapped his fingers and the illusionary Jasmine vanished from sight, as did her imitation Sun Blade and Moon Blade.

"You—YOU BASTARD!" The real Jasmine shrieked at the top of her lungs, still lying on the ground. The man grinned at her and asked, "Do you want to know what my favourite part was? No? I'll tell you anyways. The part where I crushed her spirit and made her think she was a complete monster."

"I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB, YOU BASTARD!" The girl slowly got up onto her feet and glowered at the man furiously.

"Hmph. Don't even kid yourself." He ran up to her and impaled her with a sword that slid from his coat sleeve. She looked at him in shock as her vision started to blur. He smiled kindly at her and asked, "At least she won't be lonely, right?"

"Leave my friend alone!" Superior looked up to and got the sole of an army boot to the face. The man was thrown backwards by the force of the kick and the girl wearing the boot turned to Jasmine. She bent down and supported her head gently. "I—I'm so sorry I couldn't make it in time. It took us forever to get here.... Dart is going upstairs to assist Tom right now..." She brushed the black headband tied around her long red hair and held her hand against the communicator in her ear. "Yeah, Dart. The situation is bad down here. Jasmine is down... no, she won't come back. Please make sure Tom and them make it out of there safely. Yeah, I'll be careful down here too. Jan over and out."

The girl let Jasmine's head rest on the cold stone ground and straightened out her camouflage vest that rested over her black t-shirt. She stepped around Jasmine, her brown knee length shorts flapping slightly as she moved into a better position to face the enemy. "Superior, you have lived long enough. I will make sure you pay for your crimes."

* * *

"Okay Jan, stay safe.... Heh, right. Okay, Dart over and out." A man wearing wire frame glasses climbed the outside of the castle tower and readjusted his grey pants with some irritation. _I really hate this, my pants keep riding up!_ He tugged at his olive green t-shirt to keep it from snagging on the line he was using to pull himself up and sighed. _I wish I were a Warp Sniper again, at least then I could just walk up the side of the building._

He got up to the final window and pulled himself in. Sneaking behind the pillars, he watched Sora and Riku squaring off a large, demonic Heartless that was blasting them with darkness and rays of red light. He walked over behind Tom, whose head was nodding occasionally, as if he were trying to fight off exhaustion. He got behind the pillar the Nobody was resting against and asked, "Tom?"

Tom's head snapped up and he let out a loud snort. Dart grinned. _I guess he was about to sleep after all._

"Tom, it's Dart. Sorry to be cutting in on your beauty sleep, but Jan and I need to evacuate you and your friends from this world immediately."

"Why?"

"The heart of this world is about to go. Halixat lured all of you here, hoping you would get destroyed along with the world."

"How did you learn that?"

"During our fights, we snuck tracking devices on the Heartless, that way we could watch their activities. Oh, and we bugged them so we could listen in on their conversations as well."

"I see."

"Good to know your vision isn't going, Tom."

Dart and Tom looked up to see the Heartless fall down and fade away. A pink heart floated lazily up into the air and out of sight. The man got up and from behind the pillar. "Good job, you two. I was worried I would have to cut in myself." The two Keybearers looked at him warily, ready to attack and he backed away. "Now, don't start thinking I'm your enemy or anything, I'm on your side. Right Tom? ...Tom?"

He looked over to the teen and saw he was fast asleep again. _Well this is just great.

* * *

_

"My crimes? Dear Jan, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even know these people you call your friends. If it weren't for me, Dawn would have never gone to your world and caused the incident that brought you, Gabrielle, Jordan, Dart and Kray together. You would only be with your sister Anil. Don't tell me that's what you actually wanted, to be with your sickly sister who was due to die in a few months. If it weren't for me opening the gateway to your dimension, your sister never would have gotten the medical help she needed."

"SHUT UP! HOW DARE YOU TELL ME YOU MADE THINGS ANY BETTER?" She screamed. Superior grinned widely, knowing he was pushing the right buttons. "Don't you get it? You were hopeless, you never could do anything right. Doomed to failure. Even your sister realized that."

Jan glowered furiously at the man and smashed her foot into the ground, causing the thick stone bricks to splinter under her. "How dare you say you made things better? If it weren't for you, Dawn never would have come to our world and made those innocent people become monsters. If it weren't for you, my mother would not have been torn apart in front of me. If it weren't for you, my sister never would have gotten sick in the first place."

"And especially, how dare you tell my sister I thought she was useless."

"Anil? You shouldn't be here!"

A tall, flat chested woman with a long, black coat and short blonde hair walked up behind Superior, holding a knife in her hand. "You're right. Let's see how much I care." She grabbed Superior by the shoulder and spun him around. "This is for the pain and suffering you've caused my family over the years with your research!" She punched him hard in the face, breaking his nose. "This is for the pain you've caused Jasmine and Marie in their final moments!" She stabbed him in the shoulder and twisted the dagger. "And last but not least..." She grabbed him by the throat. "This is for calling my sister useless." And stabbed him in the temple.

"So much darkness in your heart..." Jan and Anil gasped. The woman let go of the dagger that was lodged in his head and stepped back from the man that was facing her, smiling maniacally. "What are you?" She whispered.

"A human being, much like yourselves." He pulled the dagger from his head and stabbed himself in the finger, not reacting to the pain it caused. "With a twist: I'm damn well invincible."

Jan cracked a grin and dug her foot deeper into the rubble under her foot. "Oh really? We'll see about that." She sprung forwards and sprinted across the gap between her and Superior and when she got close enough, threw a punch at his head. He ducked under her, grabbed her fist with his left hand and delivered an uppercut to her stomach. She gasped in pain as the air was forced from her lungs and he spun around and let go of her arm, throwing her at her sister, who was rushing in to help.

He brushed his coat with his hands and said, "Well that was fun, but I really must go. Give Vice and Gabrielle my kind regards." The man turned around and disappeared, as did the crack in the air next to him.

* * *

"Oh crap it's hot in here!" Kevin wheezed. He pulled his jacket off and slung it over his shoulder. He looked over at Dyme and Tahlia, who were still fully dressed and asked, "Aren't you guys burning up?"

The girl looked offended. "Oh? And what do you expect me to do, take off my clothes? No thanks."

"And as for me, these cloaks come with a special air filtering and temperature regulating system that sets everything to our preferences so long as they're on."

"...I hate you Dyme."

"Compliment accepted, Kevin."

"Yeah, no problem. But I have one question about this place." The Nobody bent over and picked up an igneous rock and tossed it between his hands while talking. "If this place is the _Sea_ of Gehenna, then why is it that there's nothing but lava surrounding us?" He threw the rock into the lava just a few feet away from where he was standing.

"Well, these questions are good and all, but we do have to get going or else you will be an only child again." Tahlia said, running up the soot covered rocks. The other Nobody opened his wings and jumped into the air, using the hot air rising up to keep himself afloat and Dyme walked under as they worked together to find the shuttle that crashed.

_Okay, I am pretty sure it landed somewhere in the middle of the sea. I don't think it landed in any lava because it was flying for a big black spot, so if either of you can see anything that I can't, give me a holler._

_Right, Kevin._

_Yep._

"Okay then... I think I should ride the hot air pockets up a bit more to get a better view of things." He muttered to himself and rose higher into the air, getting a much clearer view of the surrounding area. There was a loud shriek and he looked around, seeing nothing.

_Kevin!_ Tahlia cried in his mind

_There're Heartless everywhere down here! We might need some help!_ Dyme yelled.

The Nobody was about to fly down to join his comrades when a large object rammed against his back and he was flung through the air. He spread his arms, legs and wings far out to brake himself and turned around to face a Wyvern Heartless that was coming at him again. He summoned Vortex and yelled, "Get out of here! I have no time for you!"

The Wyvern let out another shriek and charged at him again. The Nobody tightened his grip on the Keyblade and sped through the air at the Heartless. Electricity crackled all around him and his weapon and he sliced the Heartless' wing as he passed. The two combatants turned sharply for the second attack and the Keyblade connected with the other wing, and the sharp claws of the Heartless tore at his right shoulder.

Kevin stopped midair and grabbed his bleeding shoulder with his left hand. _Damn, I am just not used to aerial combat am I? I need to end this quickly..._ He dropped down slightly to avoid the claws of the passing Heartless and launched several balls of electricity at its backside. Two of them connected, stunning the Heartless and he sped through the air towards it as it fell.

He threw Vortex, which passed through its midsection and out the other end, destroying the Heartless instantly. He called the Keyblade back to his hand and turned around to see another three Wyverns moving in. On the ground, Tahlia and Dyme were separated and taking on Crimson Jazz Heartless. He noticed that the Heartless were pushing everyone further away from each other.

_This isn't good at all; they're acting too smart to be acting on their own._ He looked up and saw one of the Wyverns was close and getting ready to shred Kevin with its claws. The Nobody held up Vortex to block the incoming attack, but instead heard the Wyvern cry out in pain and saw it fall out of the sky and towards the lava below with an arrow sticking out of its left eye.

He turned to the direction the arrow had come from and saw Haruka standing on top of a soot-covered hill. _Haruka!_

_Yea, you're welcome Kevin. But please be careful, I don't want these second rate Heartless to be the ones to beat you. Chelsea is currently working on assisting your friend with the sitar. I am going to help the young kunoichi._

_Uh... thanks but how do you know about the He—_

_Another time, Kevin. You have a life to save, do you not? I saw a mysterious silver object somewhere in the east. Deal with these Wyverns and go there immediately._

_Okay. Thank you, Haruka._

_The pleasure is mine._

Kevin grinned and turned to face the Wyverns coming towards him. He dropped to a nearby hill and saw the Heartless were directing their course to follow him. He dismissed Vortex and held his hands out, feeling the balls of lightning form in his hands. He flicked his wrists lazily once the balls had gotten to be the size of soccer balls and launched them at the Heartless, which had shifted away from the attack almost as if they were in sync with one another.

The Nobody moved his hands outward as if he were doing a breast stroke and the balls of lightning followed his motion and sped to the Heartless, striking the two of them in the backs, paralyzing them. He summoned Vortex and opened his wings. He launched himself off the rock and at the two Heartless and sliced both of their heads off with one swift motion of his Keyblade.

He dismissed the weapon as the Heartless' bodies faded away and he flew as fast as he could to the small black island to the east. He looked around, surprised at the lack of Heartless attacking him and sped towards the island, hoping he wouldn't get ambushed on the way. A fifty foot drop into a sea of lava wasn't his idea of a good time.

The Nobody looked around, making sure there weren't any traps and slowly moved towards the shuttle that was in the middle of the island, reaching his mind out for whatever or whoever might be in it. He stopped, staring at it with curiosity. _Whoever is in there is good at defending his or her mind from attack... I better bring Vortex out, just to be safe._

He summoned his Keyblade yet again and walked over to the shuttle, which was covered in soot. He tapped it with Vortex and got no response. He was about to kick it when the oversized canister exploded, throwing him back. A man stepped out from the rubble, wearing a white robe with the hood pulled over his head. Both of his arms were crossed against his chest with the hands tucked in the opposite sleeve.

"Oh, I am very sorry about that. I thought you were one of the Heartless. Please allow me to introduce myself." He walked over to help Kevin up and brushed some soot off his clothes. He then reached up to remove his hood, revealing the face of a handsome young man with blond hair and green eyes. "My name is Sauron, no relation to the fictional character. I have been sent here to deliver the Earth's declaration of peace to the Overlord, King Krichevskoy. Do you know where I could find him?"

Kevin smiled kindly and offered his hand. "You have come to the right guy. My name is Kevin, loyal vassal to the Overlord. However, I am sorry to say that the Overlord you will be meeting is not Krichevskoy, he passed away two years ago."

Sauron sighed, "I am very sorry to hear about that, you must be devastated." The Nobody shook his head and replied, "Nope. I never met the guy, I came into Laharl's service probably a week ago, I am pretty new to this whole vassal thing, but I'll get used to it. However, Sauron. I need your help, that's why I came here, the Overlord doesn't know you're here."

"Oh? What do you need me for?"

"Well... my adopted brother is very sick. You see, a month or so ago, he died in a fight and his biological brother brought him back through necromancy, but gave him a body his soul wasn't entirely compatible with and it was rotting away, just at a slow rate. When your shuttle passed, something happened to my brother and he fell over, according to the woman taking care of him, he only has twenty hours left until he's wiped from existence, both body and soul."

The man stiffened, his face frowning with concern. "Oh... oh my. I'm sorry Kevin; I think that is my fault. You see, back on Earth, I take care of dealing with creatures summoned by necromancy; I sensed your brother, thinking he was one of those beings and broke the bonds holding him together. I will see if I can fix him, but if I can't... I will allow you to exact your revenge on me."

Kevin froze, unsure of what to say. He looked across the lava and sighed. "No, it's okay. But my friends are in danger; they were being attacked by Heartless when I came to get you. They should be safe, but we need to get to them to be sure." He opened a portal and walked through. "Just follow me."

Without hesitating, the man stepped after him and Kevin smiled slightly. _Well, this is interesting to say the least...

* * *

_

"Okay Kairi, it's time. Get up and let's get this plan in motion." Ashlee summoned Corona and walked up to the bars of their prison cell. Somaxth just gave us our meals, Halixat is injured and Venxik is in cold storage with Leashex watching him like a hawk. We just break down these bars and book it out of here; we'll be free in no time and without a hitch."

She struck at the bars until they were destroyed and stepped through the cell door with Kairi following closely behind her, her own Keyblade out and ready.

"I see the birds have left their cage." The two girls turned around to see a lone Invisible Heartless floating in the air in front of them, with its arms crossed over its chest. Kairi stepped back, the shock plain on her face. "It spoke!"

Ashlee scowled at the Heartless and said, "Yeah. He did. I think I remember your voice from somewhere... but I thought Roxas took care of you. Was I wrong, Kain?"

"Apparently so. In Venxik's absence, I am in charge of the Invisibles; my authority overrides even Master Somaxth and Mistress Leashex. However, it is still best that I report my findings to them. Nothing personal."

The Nobody crouched and stepped back a bit, making sure Kairi was behind her. "Of course it's nothing personal, Kain." She said, "After all, I didn't give you a beat down that you shouldn't have gotten back up from. Why not explain how you survived?"

The Invisible in front of them chuckled with his arms crossed across his chest and said, "Venxik-sama. Simple as that."

The Nobody raised an eyebrow and sighed in annoyance. "'Venxik-sama'? Oh come now, are you telling me you're some closet otaku?

"Of course not. I am simply showing that I respect Venxik's authority with the sama honorific. Now then, get back in your cage or you will be in for a world of hurt."

The Nobody sighed and dismissed Corona. She slumped her shoulders and walked back to the jail cell, Kairi looked at her, worried and the Nobody winked at her. A pale blue, fiery whip trailed down from her right hand, out of Kain's sight. She spun around, grinning wildly and swiped her hand out; the whip flung out with the motion and wrapped itself tightly around the Heartless' neck. She yanked as hard as she could, pulling him towards her and summoned Corona again and thrust it forwards, into his torso, just below the heart shaped hole.

"Well I guess I can say with a straight face that you've grown..." He spread his wings out and grabbed onto Corona's blade. "But growing a few inches won't change anything!" He crouched low to the ground and launched himself up into the air, dragging the Nobody up with him. The Heartless grinned ferally down at her and started pulling the Keyblade out from his abdomen. "Please do give the reaper my kind regards."

She returned his grin and let go of her weapon and started her descent. She pointed both of her hands up at Kain and a ball of fire blossomed in between them. "You first, I insist." She launched the fire up at him and twisted around, pointing her hand at the ground and shouted, "REFLEGA!" A round barrier made up of hexagons formed around her and she collided with the ground. There was a flash of light and the shield exploded. Ashlee turned back up to face the Heartless that was still in the air. She held her hand up and called Corona back to her.

Kain floated down to the ground and stopped when he was a foot above it and said, "I see... you've gotten better since the last time we met, haven't you? Perhaps I need to try..."

He held out his hand and the Invisible's pale blue, broad sword appeared in the air in front of him. He grabbed it and dashed at Ashlee. The Nobody held up Corona to parry the blow and as the blades connected, she twisted around and rested her shin on his back and threw him to the ground. He placed his free hand on the ground and rolled forwards to avoid a ball of fire and jumped up and twisted around to face her.

"Trying won't be enough, buddy." The girl sprinted for the Heartless and swung her Keyblade at his side and he blocked the swing with his own sword and pushed her away.

"Maybe you're right. This is a definite shame." He stabbed his sword into the ground and faded away.

_Is he gone...? No! I can feel his mind! But where is he?_ She looked around frantically for the Heartless and saw balls of dark blue fire floating around Kairi. The Nobody swore under her breath and ran for Kairi, who was trying to shake the flames off.

Ashlee watched as the flames started flying around the girl quicker and dived for her. The Nobody grabbed the girl's arm and yanked her out of the circle of fire with her just as they closed in. She helped Kairi to her feet and patted her shoulders. "Are you okay?" She asked.

The girl nodded and summoned her own Keyblade. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for the save... I wish Sora was here."

Ashlee smiled at her and said, "Yeah. That would be good. Kain is still very tough and if we stay here for too much longer, someone will be attracted to the noise and take us away."

She felt a strong hand grasp her shoulder and she heard someone from behind her say, "Right you are, escapee."

* * *

Kevin and Sauron stepped out of the portal and stood on the middle of the rock Kevin had seen Haruka. The demon and his fiancé were coming up to them with Tahlia and Dyme following closely behind.

The Nobody waved for his friends to hurry up and turned around to face the sea of lava behind him and Sauron. "So, you came from Earth to deliver a peace treaty to the Overlord, right?"

"More or less."

"But why would Earth want to make peace with an enemy that has no interest in it?"

"Beats me. I just do what I'm told if I don't want to be tried for treason."

The Nobody jumped as a gloved hand grasped his shoulder and he turned around to see Haruka panting heavily. "Kevin, we've got bad news. According to Tahlia and Dyme, the dimension gate has been closed off; we'll have to get you back to the Overlord's castle on foot."

Kevin looked at his two friends suspiciously and then back at Haruka. "Okay... but why would they know that before coming here? It's pretty far out of the way from here."

"Yeah, we got bored and wanted to wait with Xunahs and Lochit." Tahlia said, picking at her ear. Dyme shrugged and kicked a rock into the lava.

"...You guys are turning into terrible people, I hope you realize that."

"How is leaving without you terrible?!"

"...Excuse me while I sigh deeply." The Nobody replied.

Kevin sighed and turned to face Sauron, "And here are my _loyal_ comrades, Tahlia and Dyme, as well as my 'rival' and his fiancé, Haruka and Chelsea."

The man did a short bow and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sauron, no relation to the fictional character."

The Nobody sighed and said, "Okay. So, since we are stranded here, Haruka; can you help us get back to the castle? It's pretty urgent that we get there before the day is up. We have nineteen hours left."

The demon looked at the Nobody sternly for a moment and turned around to face the east. "Yes. I understand that you need to save your brother, but we can't possibly get there on foot in less than a _week_, even if we ran the distance. Our only chance is to fly as fast as possible to the castle, but none of us can fly and even if one of us could, that one person couldn't possibly carry all of us at once."

The Nobody grinned widely and said, "No problem! I can always make a portal!"

"A portal?" Haruka looked at him with interest. "I knew Nobodys were able to create Dark Corridors, but I never thought that they could create actual portals."

Kevin looked at the demon with surprise and said, "Wait. What? They _aren't_ called portals? Well, anyways, let's do this." He held his hand out and waited for the corridor to open. There was a long silence and he tried it again, but still nothing formed in front of him. "Well, what the hell...?"

"Something's interfering with magical transportation. I can feel it in the air... Kevin, I have an idea that will work." Everyone looked at Sauron with confusion and the man sighed and took off his robe. The man was wearing a black suit under the robe and he tore strips of it off and tied it together to make a harness that had six separate strips of cloth hanging from it.

"Kevin is going to pick up the strip of cloth in the middle and we are each going to grab one of the other five and he will fly us over to the castle."

"Wait. He can fly?"

The Nobody looked at his rival and said, "You never noticed? Anyways, how the funk am I going to carry five people that are hanging from that piece of crud?"

The man grinned and threw the harness into the air and it slowly floated back down into his hands. "It's made from a special material that is as light as a feather and whoever is holding onto it will be equally as light."

The Nobody looked at the fabric curiously and said, "Well wouldn't that mean I would be easily flung away by even something as small as a bird flying by?"

The man stiffened and chuckled weakly. "Right... of course. Ahaha. Okay, does anyone here have rope?"

* * *

Author's Note: Ahaha... I apologize profusely for the lateness of this. I would do a double update to atone for my sins, but I have (sneakily) split chapter fifteen in two. Yes, that's right, I split a chapter in two and you're reading the _shorter_ end of the split. Chapter sixteen (or fifteen and a half, if you want) will be released on Thursday as per the usual update date, and I'll be going back to my ANL style of updating upon completion. For some reason, having a deadline makes me lethargic. Also, I've had a lot of stuff happen, can't forget the stuff that hit the fan. Now then, without further adieu, I present to you, the next chapter.

Lochit: Xunahs, hang in there! Everyone is trying their best!

Ema: Lochit, he can't hear you, he's unconscious.

Lochit: I don't CARE! I want Xunahs to be okay, damn it! I'll scream at him to get better if I damn well please!

Gustav: That's enough, you might cause him stress.

Freda: -places a comforting hand on Lochit's shoulder- Don't worry Lochit, Xunahs. We're here for both of you in this time of trial.

Gustav: That's right.

Flonne, Etna and Laharl: Next chapter of Kingdom Hearts: Noon; Chapter Sixteen: Race Against Time part two.

Everyone: _Don't worry Xunahs; I'm going to do everything I can to help!_


	16. Race Against Time Part Two

Chapter Sixteen: Race Against Time Part Two

"C'mon Xunahs, hang in there... Kevin, Tahlia and Dyme are all doing their best to help, just hang in there; I don't want to see you leave yet. I won't let you, if the stupid assface Grim Reaper decides to come and take you away; I'll fight him off myself. Even if the most powerful being in existence were to try to take you away, I would kill him before he got even close."

Lochit moved out of the embrace she had Xunahs in and felt a hand gently touch her shoulder. "Don't worry. You just said that you have faith in your friends, so show that you do. Gustav and I will be here as well. We may not have known each other for a long time, but it's our duty to protect you guys." Freda, Lochit's mage knight offered her a napkin, which she promptly used to rub the tears from her eyes and blow her nose.

"You care about him, don't you?" Gustav, Xunahs' iron knight asked.

The girl shook her head and said, "No. Of course not. We're just friends, I'm worried sick about him. I don't want him to go… Having only Tom to do grunt work is nowhere near as fun as having two people do it for you…"

The demoness patted her back softly and whispered, "I know Lochit. Minions are always fun to have around, aren't they?" The girl gave a shuddering sigh and hugged her new friend tightly.

"I hate this so much. I have been trying to act strong for so long. I was there when Tom's parents were killed. I could have done something to help them, but that Superior bastard was too strong for me. But there was something I could have done! And right now, Kairi and Ashlee are lost somewhere, in God knows what kind of trouble. While we go looking for them, we wind up getting demonized and we start slowly losing ourselves because of this curse. And finally, THIS happens. Xunahs is dying and there really is nothing I can do! Why can't I just do something to help everyone out? Why didn't Kevin let me come with him? Does he think I'm weak or something?"

"Lochit, you know that isn—"

Lochit abruptly let go of Freda and got up. "I am going to go find them and help them out. They need it; because if they didn't, they would have been back by now."

She ran out of the hospital, with Freda following close behind. When both girls were gone, Gustav sighed and pulled out a novel and began reading.

* * *

"Well. In my two thousand, three hundred sixty five years of life, I never would have thought I would say this, but… This is freaking sweet!" Kevin looked down at Haruka who seemed to be enjoying the scenery whizzing by below them. Currently, they were flying over Blair Forest; and much to the Nobody's amazement, the fabric made everyone just as light as Sauron said it would have. Sometimes he would slow down a bit and look just to make sure everyone was still there.

"Hey, Haruka, how much longer do we need to go before we get to the castle? I need to take a bit of a rest, there's next to no air to keep me moving here and my energy is running out from making wind… should we land at the tree line in Blair Forest?"

The demon took his mind off of the scenery and looked up at the flushed face of the Nobody, who had been flying for two hours as fast as possible. He looked down at the ground and said, "Yes. I think we can make it. We just need to have a short break and move double-time. I do have a problem with you carrying all of us, however. While we may weigh next to nothing, we still aren't very aerodynamic and because of our humanly shapes, we are holding you back."

"…Right. Okay, the treeline is coming up. I'll start slowing down." The teen began lowering himself closer to the ground until his passengers were almost brushing the tops of the trees. He could have sworn he saw something following them through the branches, but dismissed it as his shadow and landed on the grassy plains just in front of the abrupt end of the forest.

Everyone got off, getting used to having to rely on their own strength to keep them upright again and sat down, exhausted. Kevin rested his back against the tree and looked ahead to see the castle's silhouette. He pulled out an energy drink and chugged it, stuffing the empty can in his pocket and let out a loud belch.

"So, how long would it be before we get back to the castle if I had a half hour break? Five hours, maybe? It doesn't look too far away."

"Actually, ten hours if you really push yourself. That's Hoggmeiser's castle in the distance, the Overlord's is three hours beyond that."

"That leaves three hours and nine minutes for me to get to Xunahs by the time we get to the castle if I take a half hour nap. I think that'll work… Wake me up when it's time or we get attacked."

* * *

"So, boss, they bought the story. They really think I'm from the future."

"I see. I knew I could count on you Ryan. Did you recognize that dragon boy that was working with Laharl?"

"Yes… Well, no. I think I did."

"That is the Heartless of your brother. Kevin and his friends are trying to save him, but I can't appear just yet before them. Can you stall them for me? I wish to watch a heart fade from existence."

"You mean, my brother will…"

"Die? Fade from existence? Yes, he will. I trust you have no problems with that, Ryan."

Ryan grinned and said, "No Superior, of course not. I won't let you down. What's the situation on that Vulcanus dude? I'm pretty interested, actually."

"He truly believes he is doing the universe a favour by making the demons go extinct and making himself god of a new world where only Celestians rule."

"Haha… I see. Well, I must get going. It was an honour, talking to the head of the Dark Court again."

"Don't belittle yourself, Ryan. You are second in command, after all."

"Sure, in this time period. I'm kinda interested in meeting this Reina chick though. From what I've heard, she seems familiar."

Superior chuckled and said, "Of course. You will meet her in due time. Now leave and don't bother reporting to me, I will know whether you have failed or succeeded."

"Of course."

* * *

"Kevin, get up! We're under fire!"

The teen woke up with a loud snort and looked around groggily, seeing a large group of demons advancing towards them. Leading them was one man that caught his attention immediately. He jumped up and summoned Vortex, walking past Haruka, who had woke him up.

"Haruka, where did all of these guys come from?" He asked.

The demon glared at the approaching group and said, "I don't know. That man walked up over a hill, launched a volley of… dark balls of energy at us and then the demons appeared at his side. In total, excluding him, there are two Marids, which are the blue, flaming dragon-shaped demons, three Gogmagogs, the black golems, and one Tiamat, the purple dragon. Whoever it is that's leading them has no intention of letting us escaping with our lives."

"Well then, I guess we're just going to have to burst his bubble, aren't we?" Kevin asked, grinning at the approaching monsters.

"Yup! They'll go down like flies." Tahlia said, stepping up next to Kevin. Sauron got up from under the tree and glowered at the approaching man.

"But you can't fight, Kevin. You need to take Sauron to Xunahs as fast as possible, or else it might be too late. I think the four of us here can take care of these chumps." Dyme said, with his sitar ready.

The Nobody was going to argue, but decided against it and nodded. "Fine. Just don't get yourselves killed, everyone." He turned around to see Sauron already set up in his harness, offering the rope to Kevin. "We need to move quickly. I think they're here to stop us from meeting up with your brother."

He nodded and took the rope, looking down thoughtfully for a second and dropped it. He took in a deep breath and yellow light exploded from him and his clothes turned yellow with random bolts of lightning flashing off of them. "Get on." He said, "I want to get there as fast as possible."

The man complied and got onto Kevin's back, holding on for dear life as the Nobody sprinted as fast as possible, his body becoming nothing more than a blur.

The man leading the demons separated from them and gave chase to the teen as he ran to the upcoming forest.

_Heh... the moment I step into this forest, I'll lose that guy for sure... there's no way he could be as fast as I am.

* * *

_

"Damn... that guy ran off to get Kevin... were these demons a distraction?" Tahlia jumped high up to avoid a blast of blue flames coming from one of the Marids and threw electrically charged kunai around it, the electricity passing between each of the kunai froze the demon in place. Grinning, the Nobody charged up her left foot with electricity and sprang high into the air and at the peak of her jump, pointed the heel of her left foot at the demon and began spinning. "Thunder Twister!"

The attack connected directly with the demon's black horn, which got snapped off with the impact. It let out an infuriated roar and punched the Nobody with a blue flame covered fist, which caused a large explosion, flinging her back against a tree. She landed on the ground, feeling dizzy and regained her composure as the demon charged in for another attack.

She ran up to the demon and volleyed off of its head and spun around mid-air so that she was facing it. She summoned more kunai and threw them down its spine. It let out an ear-splitting roar as lightning exploded from the weapons buried in its back and fell over dead.

"Tahlia, look out!" The Nobody turned around to see a Gogmagog charging at her with several arrows sticking out from its head and chest. Another arrow flew through the air and hit the monster in the eye. It let out an angry cry and tried to pull the projectile out of its eye with its big, clumsy hands.

"Thanks Claudia!" Tahlia ran forwards and leapt high up into the air and landed on the golem's head and shoved the arrow deeper into its head until the large demon faded away.

"So... that guy really didn't pull any punches in sending these mooks, did he?" Dyme asked as he smashed his sitar on the head of one of the Marids. "No, I'm afraid not sir... he seems to have sent a pretty sizable force our way. But I think you've noticed that he's separating us from your friend Kevin, right? Omega Ice!" Lucinda raised her staff above her head and ice exploded around a group of Gogmagogs and then quickly shattered, leaving no traces of the demons inside behind.

* * *

"Yeah, they're too weak to be an actual threat to us. What do you think he has to gain from this?"

_Damn it! He's still on my tail! What does he think he's going to get out of this?  
_

"Sauron, we're going to have to stop. This guy won't let up. If we keep going, he'll simply overtake us when I'm exhausted."

He stopped and let the man off of his back and reverted to his normal self. "I understand." Sauron said, pulling a black sword out from his dress pants and said, "I will hide us and hope he goes by without noticing..."

* * *

"Put me down, you big galoot!" Ashlee roared, thrashing her legs, trying to kick her captor hard and break out of his grip.

"No such chance, Ashlee. Sorry to tell you this, but you're very necessary to our plans. Both you and the princess." He gazed over at Kairi, who was being held in place by the ground, which he had opened up to trap her legs. "No... You two will remain for a little while longer. I want to see Sora's heart weaken as he fights desperately to save Kairi and I want to see how Kevin will react to his little friend being kidnapped. I must say that their reactions are quite boring currently."

"Sora won't let you get away with this! None of us will!" Kairi shouted.

The Heartless chuckled and said, "Get away with it? I know that. I am well aware that this will most likely mean the end of Leashex and I. However, I am prepared to make that sacrifice. You see, the whole idea to kidnap the two of you was made from a collaboration of the minds of Venxik and Halixat. Leashex and I had no say in it and recently, he started showing disturbing behavioural patterns... so we decided to put an end to him."

"Wait, does that mean you killed Venxik?" Ashlee asked.

"Nope. Instead we put him in a coma that will last three days. By then, I hope that your friends will have arrived here and can deal with the rest." Somaxth answered.

"Would it not have been easier to just get us here and gang up on Venxik?"

"No, it would not. You see, Venxik can absorb Nobodies and Heartless as well as anything with large amounts of darkness within it into himself. That means if we brought you here with the majority of our offensive force being made of Nobodies and Heartless, we would stand no chance whatsoever. So, my goal is to make sure your friends come here after some last minute training in searching for you. When they arrive, we'll arrange to give them back their hearts."

"Doesn't that mean that you and Leashex will sacrifice yourselves to give Ashlee and Tom their hearts back? I didn't think Heartless would be willing to do that." Kairi said, looking over at Kain, who was listening to the entire conversation.

"Well, yes. That does mean we'll be no more. However, that does not mean that we won't fight. We want to make sure everyone is ready to defeat Venxik."

"Somaxth." The Heartless looked over to the source of the voice to see Leashex standing in the prison cell Kairi and Ashlee had broken out of.

"Yes Leashex?"

"Halixat came back; she wants to speak with us in front of Venxik's cell."

Somaxth looked thoughtfully at Kain and the Invisibles behind him and back over to Leashex. "I see. Kain, could you please let go of the princess?"

The Heartless smiled venomously at his superior and said, "I can't do that, Somaxth. You see, we're under Halixat's orders. We're not budging an inch."

"I see... and you won't move through peaceful methods, correct?"

"I suppose that would be the case."

"Heh. Fine then." Somaxth let go of Ashlee and ran past her, pulling Corona from her grip. The Heartless holding Kairi captive gasped and let go of the girl and brought up his own sword to defend the attack, but it wasn't enough. Giving a mighty shout, Somaxth swung Corona at the sword and sliced clean through it and the head it was supposed to protect.

The Keyblade vanished and returned to Ashlee and Somaxth held his left hand in pain as the Heartless in front of him began to disappear, its heart already floating away. Through gasps of pain, Somaxth said to the twenty-odd Invisibles in front of him, "If you... plan on fighting for your fallen comrade... do so now before... I'm healthy again."

There was a tense couple of seconds and the Invisibles fled.

* * *

"You are an idiot, I hope you realize that. An illusion like that won't stop me, considering how I know exactly where you are. Call it a bond of heart and body."

_Crap, he found us!_ Kevin said telepathically as the man's eyes met with his. _Wait... he's Ryan? This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? How could it POSSIBLY get worse?_

Ryan pointed his hand at the spot where Kevin and Sauron were hiding and shot a ball of darkness. The two jumped out of the way and Sauron's image flickered slightly and then there was a burst of smoke and light. As the smoke faded, the man chuckled and said, "You have a good eye Ryan. Seeing through my illusions like that."

"Well it can't be helped. After all, we are one in the same." The other man replied, making the exact same chuckle.

Kevin looked from Ryan to his Heartless, Raynx and started trying to find a way to escape. _Today really is not my day._

"KEVIN!" The Nobody in question looked over to the source of the voice, as did the other two with him and saw Lochit running towards them with Freda close behind.

"Lochit, Freda! Run! I'll hold them off!" Kevin yelled, waving frantically for them to run away.

The girl stopped next to him, holding her rapier and Freda was next to her, out of breath from the run. She looked at Kevin with annoyance and said, "Like hell I'm leaving you with these two bozos. I want to lose as little friends as possible today. On that subject, did you get any clues as to how we can help Xunahs?"

"Lochit, this REALLY is not the time for that." Kevin said, gesturing to the Heartless and his Nobody.

"Pfft. They don't look so tough. Two malnourished punks aren't exactly that hard to beat down, y'know?"

Ryan laughed at her comment and said, "Of course not! You have a good eye. I am rather underfed, aren't I?"

"As for your previous question, Lochit. I'm the key to saving Kevin's little brother." Raynx said, pushing Ryan aside and walking towards the opposing trio.

Looking confused, Kevin said, "Wait. What? Isn't Xunahs your brother?"

The Heartless shook his head and said, "No, I've long since lost the right to call him my sibling. I'm sure he's told you at least once how terrible I've been to him."

Ryan looked over at his Heartless with disgust and asked, "Eh? Do you have a few screws loose or something? I know that just last week, I LOVED making Shaun's life hell by telling him by how incompetent he was! He locked himself up in his room for weeks!"

The Heartless turned to face the man and he said, "You sicken me. How I was ever a part of you baffles me!"

As if he was ignoring the Heartless, Ryan kept on going. "Yep. I remember him looking up at me like he wanted to rip out my throat, but knew he couldn't do it. He didn't have the guts or the strength to do it. You'd think he'd try running away, but he's just too damn scared! He tried that once and that was it for him! He knew never to try that again. Just like any obedient dog would learn. Beat it down a few times and treat it like scum, and that's the end of any rebellious attitude!"

"How dare you... He's your brother! Don't you get it? You must have done some sick and twisted shit to him to make him act like he does now! Sometimes he'll just flinch away from me when I tap his shoulder! He's an emotional wreck because of the shit you pulled with him. I remember one day on the islands when I was taking him over to the beach to hang out with him, he just started crying because no one had ever been nice enough to do something with him besides Kevin. You isolated him from the rest of society and treated him like shit and that one day aside, he's been a happy person for the whole time I've known him! He still won't open up to any of us about the stuff you've done to him and for the most part, he's quiet and shy."

Ryan just stared at her with an aloof expression during her speech and when she was finished, he said, "Of course I get it. Wanna know something about me, girl? I couldn't give two shits about my little brother. The reason I put him through what I put him through is because it's fun. I have no other purpose in my actions than to see how far I can push him before he kills himself. Apparently, I didn't even have to do anything," he pointed at Kevin, "this guy right here just had to let his brother endanger his life by letting Galbatorix take him for a test drive. Because of this kid's fuckup, Xunahs was put in the fake body that was slowly rejecting him due to shoddy necromancy on Halixat's behalf. Because of Kevin, his little brother is going to get wiped from existence. My only wish is that you had a heart so that you could feel the pain and that I could laugh as you fell to your knees, begging whatever gods you worship to bring your little brother back."

Kevin stood there, stunned and Lochit walked forward, glaring furiously at him. "If you didn't treat him like shit in the first place, Xunahs never would have been in this situation. He's your flesh and blood, god dammit!"

"Actually, he isn't." Raynx said, stepping in front of Lochit. He turned to face Ryan and said, "But that doesn't mean I don't regret my actions. Everything that I said Kevin, about how it was an accident that caused Xunahs to be put in his current state and how I wanted to help him was completely true. I want nothing more than to save him, to give him a second chance at life. I am entrusting that job to you, Lochit and your friends. Do what I failed so miserably at."

"Raynx... what are you saying? Xunahs isn't your brother?"

"No. He isn't, he was a kid I made an orphan thirteen years ago, when I was twelve. I took him in and I helped him, but then Superior came along and messed everything up. I lost myself to the darkness and treated him terribly for thirteen years. He has a strong will to keep on going and I admire him for that. He should have lost himself to the darkness years ago, but he kept on fighting, kept on grasping for the light that would one day save him. Kevin, Lochit. Will you be that light for him?"

Ryan looked at his Heartless with disgust and punched him hard in the face, sending him backwards into Lochit. "You sickening, sappy wimp! I can't believe we are the same person! What the fuck happened to make my heart so damn weak?!"

"Nothing." Kevin walked forwards, holding Vortex and glaring at his enemy with hatred. "He didn't do anything to make himself weaker. He made himself stronger because he's doing what's right. He's repenting for his sins!"

Ryan ran up to him and picked him up by the throat and returned the Nobody's glare. "Are you saying I'm weak? Because the way I see it right now, he's the one that has a mashed in face and you're the one with a hand crushing your throat."

The Nobody grinned down at him and said, "Yeah? Your point?" There was an ear-splitting thunderclap and a bolt of lightning came down through the trees, striking Ryan directly on top of the head. The man was thrown back by the attack and Kevin was dropped to the ground. The two jumped back up onto their feet and dashed across the clearing at one another, Kevin with Vortex and Ryan with a long sword. The two weapons clashed, sending sparks flying and they jumped away from one another, circling around each other, looking for an opening.

"Shaun is nothing but a dog that will do your bidding no matter what, right? So why not use him for cheap labour? I mean hey, it's not like it would be that hard to scare him into building you a house or something. The best part? You don't have to pay him and if he's being useless, you can just beat on him until he gets up! Sure you'll have to hear him cry and work at the same time, but that's just the price you'll have to pay for a free house, no? I mean really, his self esteem must be SHOT if he sees that little ice queen of a whore as a friend, am I right or what?"

After she helped Lochit to her feet, Freda turned to face Ryan and drew her sword. She walked towards him, shaking with anger and said, "Don't you dare call my friend such despicable names."

"Oh? And why should you feel any need to defend her honour? Because you're hired help?" Ryan asked tauntingly, smiling at her sweetly.

"No, because I am bound to be her protection by her mana; and even then, she has been good to me and has treated me like an equal. I'll stay by her side until the bitter end."

"Funny you should bring that 'bitter end' thing up." He ran for Freda and Kevin jumped in front of him, swinging Vortex at his stomach. The man disappeared just before the Keyblade hit and reappeared in front of the demon, with his sword in her stomach.

She let out a gasp of surprise and he pulled the sword out from her stomach and smiled at Lochit as the demon fell face-first into the grass. Lochit got to her feet, staring at Freda, who was gasping in pain with a blank expression and then up at Ryan, who was smiling smugly at her.

"Just another useless pawn. Yours truly is a sad existence, isn't it, demon? You are nothing but a side character in this story. Shall I put you out of your misery?"

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" Lochit screamed. Ryan looked up at her smugly and asked, "Why? She's only a pawn for you, am I right? Why should you care about the life of an insignificant pawn?"

The girl ignored him and ran across the opening, ice forming on the ground around her with each step. The man gave an annoyed sigh and ran over the collapsed demon and met his longsword with the girl's ice rapier. "That darkness inside you... I can feel it growing. I wonder why is that, Lochit? Am I pushing your buttons by insulting and hurting your 'friends', or is it that you know deep down inside just how unimportant they are and you're trying with all your power to deny it? And that darkness won't be held back for long, Lochit. Keeping that weapon of yours in one piece must be draining a lot of your strength... Oh, what's this?" He looked down to see ice crawling up his legs, binding them in place. He looked to her infuriated glare and smirked. "I see, so you aren't just charging in blindly, are you? If I were you, I'd be careful not to expend too much energy on the foe before you."

_He's right you know. Time for me to step in._ Lochit let out a loud, anguished scream as darkness exploded from her and Ryan smiled at the girl with triumph. A thick, black smoke enveloped Lochit and disappeared as soon as it had appeared, revealing a girl that looked exactly like her, except she was wearing a long, white gown, had white, curly hair and two ice blue eyes looking at Ryan curiously.

"You did a really good job of pushing her buttons, y'know? I've been trying for a good month now. Tell me, what's your secret?"

Kevin helped Raynx to his feet and said, "We're pretty outnumbered in regards of firepower right now, Raynx. Got any ideas?"

"Heh. Ideas? 'Slice 'n' dice' is a good plan, in my honest opinion. What about you?"

"Well... we can't kill Ryan. That would screw up the time stream, and if we kill Lochit, I'm going to feel like crap. So, let's just try a simple beating to submission."

"Sounds good to me."

The teen smirked and said, "So we're agreed? You take on your Somebody, I call dibs on beating some sense into Lochit."

The man standing next to the Heartless kicked away the ice away from his legs and said, "Really? One of you against me? I felt the odds were much more in your favour when Xochitl here wasn't interfering. Oh well. This will give me an opportunity to show my heart who's boss, won't it?"

"I suppose so." Kevin said, "However, if Raynx decides to lose, I'll just pick up after him.

"Haha! You're actually think you'll get through to her?" The Heartless asked coldly. "I don't plan on it working out. I have my own agenda to keep and insects like you will only get in my way, so vanish." She dashed across the opening and stabbed at Kevin with her rapier. The Nobody sidestepped the swing and punched the Heartless hard in the stomach with an electrically charged fist.

The Heartless gasped in pain and glared at the Nobody. She whispered something under her breath and grabbed his arm with both of her hands and smiled sweetly at him as ice started crawling up his arm from where she grabbed him. His eyes widened and he jumped away, ripping his arm out of her grasp. He clutched his frozen limb in pain and summoned Vortex and ran to Xochitl, holding the Keyblade with his not frozen left hand. The Heartless grinned widely at him as he closed in and dashed to him. She pulled her rapier back, ready to stab the Nobody through the chest when he jumped over her head and spun around, pointing his frozen arm at her.

There was an explosion of steam as the ice was thawed and a whip made out of water was floating just above his hand.

* * *

_Where... where am I?_ Lochit thought to herself as she stood up in an ice-covered cavern. She looked around, trying to find Kevin or Freda, but there was no one around except for her. "Is anyone there?"

"You're in your heart. I've taken over your body and you get to watch as I tear apart your friends." Lochit whipped around to face her Heartless and said, "What if I don't want to see my friends get torn apart?"

"Well, unless you win, you won't get much say in the matter. Now prepare yourself!"

Xochitl moved across the frozen floor in a way that gave the illusion that she was gliding and she rammed into Lochit, pushing her to the icy ground. The Heartless made a sharp turn and came gliding back to the girl for a second attack. She got up to her feet and ice crystals started swirling around her rapidly. She crouched as her Heartless got closer and jumped out of the way when the Heartless got close enough, sending the small missiles after her.

The Heartless continued gliding away from the ice crystals, circling around the cavern and making odd, sharp turns as if she were trying to shake the small missiles. Suddenly, she came to a complete halt and rose her hand up and the ice crystals stopped as well and then evaporated.

"You should know that ice attacks won't work in a fight like this, Lochit. C'mon, use your brain!"

* * *

"Heh... water? What do you think you can do with water against the crushing power of ice?" Xochitl asked.

To answer her question, the teen flicked his hand out and the tendril of water shot for the Heartless and wrapped itself around her. He held Vortex out so it was lined up with the whip and said, "This." He yanked as hard as he could, making the Heartless fly towards him and the tip of the Keyblade.

Xochitl's eyes widened with panic as she was lifted off the ground and thought, _Is he really going to kill me? Doesn't he care about what happens to his friend?!_

When she was close enough, Kevin flipped Vortex around so that the butt was pointed at the Heartless and he leapt towards her, holding the butt of the Keyblade up, ready to smash it on her head.

* * *

"Why don't you just give in, Lochit? You're losing pathetically here. You've been doing nothing but running around! What kind of fight is this? Don't you care about Xunahs? Don't you want to save him? I'm the only thing stopping you and you just don't seem to care about destroying me." Xochitl said, looking at her battered and bruised Somebody with disdain. She raised her sword to deal the final blow and Lochit cracked a wide grin.

"Of course I care about saving Xunahs, you idiot. Now then, good night!" Lochit sprang forward, thrusting a sharp object into her Heartless' chest and sliced horizontally, cutting through both lungs and her heart. The Heartless collapsed on the ground in front of her Somebody, gasping in pain and she started fading away.

"You said ice wouldn't work, right?" Lochit asked, looking down at where Xochitl had been moments before. She flicked the long, azure blade in her hands and said, "Looks like calling your bluff was a good move."

* * *

"Hmm... So, you're my Heartless, are you? I wonder just how strong you are, if the kid holds you in high respect, you have to be worth somethin'."

Raynx laughed and said, "I'm not an idiot, I know that you couldn't give two shits about either of us. But as for your wondering about how strong I am..." He grinned ferally and drew Dreggan. "Why don't we see which one of us is stronger in a good old fashioned fight?"

Returning the grin, the man gripped his sword tightly and said, "I couldn't have thought of a better idea if I tried! En garde!"

Just as the Heartless sprang forwards, Ryan disappeared from sight and Raynx felt a sharp pain in his arm and looked down to see his Somebody's sword sticking out of his right arm, just above the elbow. He pulled himself free, wincing at the pain and turned around to face his enemy again.

"You're fast." He gasped, clutching at his arm in pain.

"And you're slow. I can't believe what being caring has done to you. Makes me sick just thinking that I'll end up like this one day."

Chuckling at what his Somebody said, Raynx stood straight up and held his injured arm in front of him with Dreggan in his hand, not reacting at all to the searing pain it was causing and he whispered, "Behind you," while smiling widely. The man whipped around and slashed through the empty air, expecting to see his Heartless standing there and saw nothing. With his opponent's back wide open for attack, Raynx sprang forward and landed short of Ryan and quickly jumped above the man's head, grinning as the man twisted around again to slash him and found nothing yet again. Once he was directly overhead, Raynx turned in the air and pointed Dreggan's tip down at the center of Ryan's head and pressed the eye-shaped button on the crossguard, making the blade stretch across the gap between the two of them and enter the man's skull.

The Heartless froze as he felt a weight press against his back and the trees around him began swirling and fading from sight and he felt grass being pressed against his face.

_An illusion?! How the hell did he manage that? I could only start making illusions when I became a Heartless!_

"And this is why I'm better than you, heart. I'll give you five seconds to surrender and join me, or I'm killing you and our little bro's body."

Kevin looked away from Lochit, who was unconscious and lying next to Freda and said, "What're you talking about? That's not Shaun, it's Raynx!"

"N-not quite right there, Kevin. Jasmine killed Shaun's mind. Well, I tricked her into doing it. You see, Superior in all his fucked up weirdness decided to see what would happen if a heart tried inhabiting an empty body that was not its own. He put me in Shaun and sent me off to assist Halixat as a test run. I decided to break away and track Xunahs down so that I could take him out of the body that was slowly failing him and accidentally sped up the process when I went by him in that stupid shuttle—"

"Five seconds are up, ya boring Heartless."

"Heh. Not really. I recommend looking behind you."

The man laughed and said, "Look behind me? Like hell that'd work on me again!" The Heartless grinned up at him and his image began flickering in and out of sight. "Heh, your loss."

Ryan was about to make a witty retort when he gasped in pain and blood started oozing out of the hole made in his chest by a long, curved sword. Kevin's and Raynx' (who was now behind Ryan, preparing to stab his own Somebody in the shoulder) attention turned to the man that had suddenly appeared in front of Ryan.

"Why hello there, I hope I'm not interrupting something. I just wanted to advance my plans a bit." The sword he was holding slid back into his long, black sleeve and he beat on his own coat, as if he was brushing some dust off it. He looked at Ryan with an annoying aloofness and said, "I'm sorry to tell you, my second in command, but you've been terminated."

Ryan glared up at the man with fury and lunged forward, balls of darkness forming in his hands. "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me, Superior—AUGH!" His attack was halted by Superior punching him right in the freshly made hole in his chest and Ryan's heart floated away from his body and into the sky.

"W-what the HELL are you doing?!" Kevin cried. Raynx just looked at his hands, amazed by the fact that he wasn't disappearing on the spot and Superior looked at him with the same aloof gaze he gave Ryan in his final moments and said, "What? Are you worried about time being screwed over because I just created a reality in which Ryan doesn't exist? What does this mean for Kevin? Is Andrea waiting at home, happy as a hippie or is there something much worse waiting for him in the future? Maybe instead of the hearts of his family and friends disappearing, they were all destroyed completely and utterly."

Superior looked at Kevin's scowling face and smirked, the action made his silver mask lift up a bit, revealing pale cheeks. "You don't need to worry about any of that. I've planned everything ahead. History as you know it has been set back on the right course as best as it possibly can. Now then, in coming here and playing with the time stream a bit, if my calculations are correct, Xunahs' time left has shortened quite a bit. He has about two hours. Since Ryan, who was jamming your transportation systems is out of the way; you should be able to get back to the castle in time. Have a good one, guys. I'm out" He turned around; ready to leave and Kevin stepped forward and shouted, "Wait!"

The man sighed and turned around. "Yes? I do have a busy schedule, you know."

"I just want to know something, why did you attack Ryan?"

He sighed and asked, "Better question: do you see me as an ally?"

Kevin shook his head and Superior grinned. "Good to know. Ciao." And he disappeared.

* * *

"I found them Vice!" Gabrielle shouted. The man in question walked up to her and looked at the silvery portal that Kray was standing in front of. "Are you positive of that? We need to get them as soon as possible"

"Yes, it's them. Are you ready to go in?"

"Yeah, just give the word."

A rather short teen with dirty blond hair put down the book he was reading and got up on to his feet and walked up to Vice. "I'm coming too. You might be stronger than all of us, but you still might need help, after all."

* * *

"Hey Dart, we need to get go— Is this a bad time for you guys?" Jan asked, looking at Sora and Riku, who were pointing their Keyblades at Dart's chest, glaring at him. Just as Sora was about to ask Jan who she was and what she was doing, Anil walked up next to her from the hole in the wall Jan had entered through and placed Jasmine's body carefully on the ground next to her.

The young girl turned around to her older sister, looking infuriated and shouted, "What the BALLS is the big idea? I have no words. If we get attacked by tweedle bishie and twiddle bishier, I blame you." She turned to the other two and said, "And if you two plan on being hostile, I'll tell you right now that we don't have time for this. This world is getting eaten up by the darkness as we stand here, using up precious time. Dart, pick up Tom. We need to start going ASAP."

The man in question helped Tom to his feet and grunted under the weight of the unconscious Nobody. "Couldn't you have asked the flat chested Amazon to get him instead?"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" Jan shouted at the top of her lungs, putting any more protests Dart may have had to rest. "Get your scrawny ass over here, with Tom on your back, okay?"

"I—it's okay, I can walk." The previously unconscious Nobody said, getting to his feet, the effort put in to the simple action was clearly shown in his facial expression. Dart tried to help him, but the Nobody waved him away and got fully onto his feet. "Sorry to worry everyone like that… We need to go now…" He held his hand up to create a portal, but was quickly knocked down by Jan, who was glaring at him furiously. "Don't you dare do anything else, got it? You're gonna be dead weight being carried by Dart, and that's that."

Tom nodded slowly and then got back onto his feet, showing less effort this time around. "Fine... But first, can we check something out? Maderas had a prisoner up here, I want to see if he's okay."

"A prisoner? We couldn't detect any human or Nobody signals from this tower apart from you guys and Superior." Anil said.

The Nobody turned to face Anil, and said, "What? Superior was here? Is he still here?" The woman looked at him for a moment and shook her head and replied, "No. He got away from us; I believe he's gone to interfere with Kevin and his group, which is why we're sending Vice for backup. Ever since Halixat became active, Superior became active as well. We think there may be a connection between the two."

Tom looked at her and then over at the corridor she was standing in front of and said, "I see…" He stretched his arms slightly and did a slight jab and jogged in place slightly. "Funny, I'm feeling all better."

"That's nice dear, so can we go now?" Jan asked in a slightly agitated voice. The Nobody grinned and said, "After the prisoner, this'll only take a second."

* * *

Kevin turned away from Ryan's dead body and held his hand out to create a corridor. "Well, I guess we're free to go back, the jamming device is gone." Suddenly the corridor disappeared and he heard a grunt from behind him. He whipped around and saw Ryan standing back up on his feet, swaying back and forth.

He glared venomously at the Nobody and his Heartless and said, "I'm going to kill that man, but first I'll destroy the two of you. So get ready to DIE!"

He raised his sword and charged at them. Before he was even close to Kevin, he let out an anguished scream as blood spurted from the hole in his chest and he fell forwards again, completely still. The teen checked the fallen man's mind to make sure he really was gone, and once he knew for sure, he walked towards the corridor, carrying Lochit and Raynx carrying Freda.

Once again, the corridor began wavering and Kevin let out a frustrated moan and handed Lochit to Raynx and said, "Go in, now. I'll finish things off here."

The Heartless looked from the teen to his Somebody, who was moving ever so slightly and said, "Are you sure you want to stay here by yourself? Something's different, can you feel the darkness building up?"

The teen nodded. "Yeah, I do, but I'm tired of this, Xunahs doesn't have much time left and right now, he has priority. Take Lochit back and save Xunahs, I believe you do mean what you say, I trust you to save him. If Ryan is getting back up, we can't just run this time, we won't be able to make it in time, so you need to go ahead and use this opportunity to save our brother."

"I told you, he isn't my--- urf!" Kevin cut Raynx' reply off and shoved him into the corridor just as it closed. He summoned Vortex and turned around to face Ryan, who was now standing up again and had darkness swirling around him, with more coming through the trees surrounding them.

"You just don't give up, do you?" The teen asked. "You had a sword shoved through your chest and you were killed twice, and now you're up for more... Well, if it means it can stop people from getting hurt, I'll make sure you don't get back up a third time!"

* * *

"Excuse me, injured people coming through!" Raynx yelled as he ran from the dimension gate to the hospital, which was pointed out to Raynx by the Gatekeeper.

"Welcome to the Netherworld Hospital. You're new here, aren't you?" Ema, the nurse at the hospital asked the Heartless. He merely grunted and put Lochit and Freda on separate cots and ran to where Xunahs was, with the nurse close behind. She grabbed his shoulder and said, "I am sorry, but he can't have visitors right now, Gustav is here to keep guard, but no one else besides myself is allowed here."

The Heartless turned towards her, glaring at her and said in an even voice, "I am well aware of that, but I know how to help this patient." She shook her head and sighed and Raynx said, "It may not work, but..." He looked at Xunahs again, who was looking very thin, as if he hadn't eaten for a week and there were pale purple scales on the bed around his arms and legs, which had turned a dull grey colour. "Even if it doesn't, he will at least be able to pass on and wait for his friends."

"...Fine. I'll let you do this if you must." Gustav said, speaking for the nurse. He stood up to bar her from the Heartless and gave him a nod. "Heh. Good, I wouldn't have let you stop me anyways."

* * *

"_Hey, Xunahs. Wake up for a bit, I have some final commands for you. If you want to go back to the world your friends have worked so hard to give you, follow them closely."_

"Who-who is that?" Xunahs asked, his eyes fluttering open. He was in a room that was completely pitch-black. He looked down and gasped, a strong blush turning his cheeks bright red, "A better question: Where are my clothes?"

"_Not important right now, you'll get 'em back once we're done."_

The teen looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the voice, "Okay, that sounded VERY bad. Where's everyone?"

"_You want them to see your birthday suit?"_

"No! For fuck's sake! Answer my questions!"

The voice gave a sigh and said, _"Fine, I'm Sauron, no relation to the fictional character. Your brother, Kevin asked me to help you, and so here I am, saving your as...neck."_

There was a long silence from Xunahs and he finally gave up. "Okay, okay. But why do I need saving?"

"_I have no time to explain, they can explain it when you're back to your body."_

"My body...? But aren't I in my body right now?"

"_No. You're more of a projection of your spirit inside your mind. Now follow the god damn instructions."_

There was sudden bright flash and a square light appeared a few feet away from Xunahs. _"Walk in it."_

The teen did as he was told and he found himself in a bright pathway. "Where is this?"

"_Just keep walking until you get to the other side, and I'll see you there."_

* * *

"So, Ryan. Care to explain why you can't seem to die?" Kevin asked, glaring at Ryan, whose body was darkening and eyes were turning a bright gold colour. There was even more darkness flying through the trees and the man was just standing there, soaking it up like a sponge. Finally, the darkness slowed down and Ryan let out a deafening roar.

The teen jumped back, surprised by the sudden assault on his ears and he regained him composure just in time to block an equally as sudden punch thrown by the man covered in darkness. Kevin's eyes widened with shock as he realized the punch was forcing him back and he started pushing back against Ryan, who was staring at him with golden eyes.

Ryan's feet touched the ground and he grabbed Vortex' blade, not reacting as the spokes cut into his hand and he spun around, ripping the Keyblade out of Kevin's grip and he threw it away. The teen swore under his breath and tried to get away, but his enemy was too fast and delivered a powerful kick to his spine, launching him off the ground and into a tree. He gasped with pain as his nose was crushed from his face first collision with the tree and fell back to the ground, unable to move or react as Ryan rushed up to attack him again.

* * *

The end of the path was a doorway and Xunahs could barely make out a person dressed in black standing at the end of it. _Am I... am I dead? Is this person here to take me away?_ Despite his worrying, he kept on walking, wanting answers for the questions bubbling up in his mind: "Who was this "Sauron" person? What is he doing here? Where _is_ here? Why am I here? How come I feel like I've met him before...?" Taking in a deep breath, Xunahs ran as fast as he could to reach the other person.

As he got closer to the figure in the doorway, it turned around and walked into the black room, disappearing from Xunahs' view. The teen let out a groan of frustration and started pumping his already tired legs to speed up and catch the person. After what felt like an eternity, he finally entered the black room and he stopped to catch his breath before taking a quick look around to see if he could see anyone.

"Hey Xunahs."

The teen in question whipped around to face the doorway that lead to the bright path and he saw Raynx standing there, grinning at him. "I only have one word for you: live." And the brightness disappeared, as did Raynx. Xunahs' eyes started getting heavy and he fell over, unconscious.

* * *

"Lochit, it's time to get up, sleepy head."

The girl's green eyes popped open at the sound of Dyme's voice and she sat straight up in her cot, looking around groggily. "Where's Xunahs? Is he alright? Did we get here in time?"

"Yeah, we did." Tahlia, who was sitting at the foot of the cot, replied. "Xunahs is resting right now, looking pretty damn healthy. Before he began the procedure, Sauron explained that he and Xunahs were to switch bodies and he would do his best to keep himself living long enough for Xunahs to wake up and see him in about half an hour so he could explain himself."

"B-but why would he do that?" Lochit asked, obviously confused.

Dyme shook his head and sat down in the chair next to Lochit's bed. "I don't know, but Tahlia seems to have some sort of an idea."

"I see... is Freda here?"

"Yeah, she's still resting, but she's getting patched up pretty quickly through the combined efforts of Claudia and Ema."

"Good. And Kevin?"

There was a moment of silence and finally, Tahlia said, "He hasn't come back yet, we sent Haruka, John and Chelsea out to find him just a few minutes ago. What exactly was out there, Lochit? Who was it that attacked you?"

"Ryan... and my Heartless broke free and took me over. I was able to defeat her, but the strain from the battle made me lose consciousness."

* * *

Haruka stopped running and motioned for John and Chelsea to do the same. The three hid behind some trees and looked out from behind them to watch Kevin being thrown around by a demon that was completely black from darkness flowing out of its body. The teen was flung against the tree with a sickening crunch being made, signifying the breaking of several bones and he fell limply to the ground, not moving.

"I—is he dead?" John whispered, unnerved by the thing's strength.

"No, he would have faded away if he were dead. He's a Nobody. Remember?" Chelsea replied, under her breath.

"Yeah, right." He looked over to the teen and saw him getting back up on his feet. "He's getting up!"

"Right, okay. Chelsea, you help me with that demon. John, you help Kevin once I've distracted his friend over there."

Kevin slowly rose to his feet, holding the tree behind him for support and wincing in pain as the broken bones in his right leg ground against each other. He glared ferociously at Ryan and shifted himself slightly so there was less weight being put on his right leg and held Vortex ready as best as he could. "I'm not giving up, even if my leg won't work for me. I'll still kill you!"

His mechanized wings burst open from his wing pack and he was lifted into the air as a strong gust of wind blew through the trees.

"OMEGA COMET!" There was a sudden flash of bright light in the sky high above the heads of the teen and his opponent and the two looked up to see a large ball of light with thin light lines trailing behind it flying quickly through the air, straight to Ryan's head. Before the man could get out of the way, the attack connected, releasing a brilliant pillar of light and a strong gust of wind that blew Kevin off balance and into John's arms, who had dashed out from the trees to aid him.

Ryan let out an infuriated roar and launched a massive ball of darkness at the trees John had run out of seconds before, completely blasting them apart, only to get retaliation in the form of several bullets fired at him.

Kevin looked at the trees and saw Chelsea running out from them, firing a barrage of bullets from a small blue, box-shaped gun with small white and golden angel wing designs painted on the sides. "Get ready to face the ultimate gunslinger Chelsea, and the ultimate gun, Etoile! INFERNO!" The demoness jumped in the air and suddenly disappeared. Just as the man was getting impatient again, four copies of Chelsea reappeared around him, each of them aiming Etoile at his chest. They all let out a battle cry and each sent out a stream of flaming red balls of energy at him and once they had all connected, they dashed in and kicked him high into the air, only to let out another volley of flames. Three of the Chelseas disappeared and the original jumped up into the air and above Ryan, who was easily above the ancient trees that had been previously been surrounding the two.

She removed the emptied cartridge from Etoile and jammed another in, red energy forming around the blue gun once again. "This is the end of it, monster. RAPIDFIRE!" As the two fell back to the forest floor, Chelsea was firing nonstop at Ryan's chest and face, swirling around him to get him from all angles and finally placed her feet on his shoulders, resting the barrel of Etoile against his temple and said, "G'night." And released the last bullet into his skull. The two landed on the ground and the demoness turned away from the now headless corpse with disgust.

"I thought he was supposed to be tougher than the Item God, Haruka! Where was the fun in that?" Haruka walked out from the trees destroyed by Ryan's attack and helped an awestruck John hold up an equally as awestruck Kevin.

"D-did I actually manage to beat her?" John asked, his knees weak from seeing Chelsea's display of fighting prowess.

"Yeah, and Kevin beat me fair and square as well. We just went to the Item World and did some training there. I had a feeling things would be getting nasty in the Netherworld. The appearance of your friend's leader, Superior is proof of that."

"You know about him?" Kevin asked weakly; the pain and the exhaustion from the hard day finally catching up with him. The demon gave loud sigh and said, "That can wait for later. Your brother's saviour requested that you are there for Xunahs when he wakes up."

"Ah. Okay, let's go."

*Thirty Minutes Later*

* * *

My eyes snapped open when I heard someone in the room next to me cough and voice his strong distaste for something he had been given. I swung my legs over the stretcher I was lying on and held my head with a pained grimace stretching the muscles in my face. The last few hours were completely hazy to me, and I felt nauseated. Hell, even the hair on my head felt... wait, hair? I don't have hair right now. Do I? No, I'm supposed to be some weird crossover of a human and dragon because of the curse. I shouldn't have smooth skin on my face, I should have rough scales. Is there a mirror around here?

I found a mirror rested above the sink in the hospital room I was in, and I slowly walked up to it, not sure if I wanted to know what I would see. Just as I was getting at an angle I could see myself from, I shut my eyes tightly. Why was it so hard for me to go up to the mirror?

Finally, after taking a deep breath, I stepped in front of it and gasped in shock and pinched my flesh-coloured cheeks to make sure it wasn't a dream. I was me again. The curse was lifted, I was standing there with skin covering my face and I was wearing a pair of jeans and a dark green jacket with a dark purple shirt underneath. My hair was blond and my face actually had a healthy shade of pink on it rather than my pallid appearance when I was a Heartless. My eyes were green, not red and I looked completely like I had before I lost my heart. Just as I, in all my pessimistic attitude, was going to start telling myself that everything I experienced with my friends was all a dream and I was going to have to go back to my hellish life with Ryan, I heard someone behind me call my name quietly.

I turned around and tears sprang up in my eyes. Kevin, Lochit, Tahlia, Dyme, everyone was there. Even Laharl, Etna and Flonne. There was a long silence in the room that seemed to stretch on forever and finally, Kevin and Lochit cried out and tackled me, pinning me against the wall. The two of them were sobbing loudly. For whatever reason, I also began crying and grabbed the two of them in a tight hug.

"Xunahs, you're okay!" Kevin said, breaking out of the group hug, his cheeks stained from tears that were still flowing freely from his eyes. Lochit tried wiping her eyes on my sleeve and stepped back, frowning at me. "Don't you _ever_ worry us like that again. Got it?"

"I worried you?" I asked, hardly able to make noise other than a choked sob. At that moment, I remembered seeing Raynx while I was unconscious and whipped around to face my bed and saw my old body lying on the cot next to it, looking almost like a half rotten corpse. Suddenly, its eyes snapped open and looked over to me, grinning slightly. I backed away in a panic, bumping into the sink above the mirror and to my amazement, Raynx' voice weakly came out of the mouth of the body on the cot.

"It's really hard to sleep when a group of morons like you cry so loudly." Kevin turned to face Raynx and said, "Yeah. Sorry about that." For some reason, Kevin's voice wasn't full of hatred towards Raynx. There wasn't even the slightest hint of hostility or sarcasm in his apology. "But first, I think my little brother is owed an explanation."

"Right. Xunahs come here. I would like some privacy, please."

Everyone but Kevin, Tahlia, Lochit and Gustav were reluctant to leave and my brother sighed loudly. "Fine, stay."

Over the next fifteen minutes, Raynx went into detail about everything that had happened to him in the month since we had met him, and the fact that I wasn't his biological brother. How Vince was actually my Nobody, Shaun, who was taken into the Dark Court to take Ryan's place after he had been killed in Hollow Bastion. However, Shaun didn't want anything to do with it and kept trying to escape and Reina was tasked with hunting him down and bringing him back time and time again. After his encounter at the lake with the water demon, Superior ambushed him while he was sleeping and had put Raynx, who had been preserved for the past month, into Shaun to research the effects on a body that has a heart that isn't its original. At this point, Raynx had defected from the Dark Court and using Shaun's body, tried to flee, winding up in a castle that was under Halixat's control. After a series of battles with Sora and his friends (at this point, Kevin, Lochit, Tahlia, Dyme and myself were relieved to hear that they were doing well, albeit struggling with the enemies they were up against), he had been attacked by Jasmine, who had traveled in time back to the present to wrench some answers for her own questions out of Superior. In the middle of their fight, Raynx had gained total control over Shaun and sucked Jasmine into Shaun's mind, where he tricked her into killing his consciousness, making Raynx the only thing occupying the body. Using the mask Jasmine had dropped, he traveled back to this time period and had wound up on Earth, where he got put in a mission to deliver a peace treaty to Laharl. At that point, he became silent, which got one question out of Kevin, which was on the minds of everyone in the room.

"So, why did you do that to Xunahs on your way by us? Don't give me the same BS you did when you came out of the pod." And now, there was hostility in his voice.

Raynx looked away as best as he could, looking completely ashamed of himself and said, "Completely selfish reasons. I wanted a place where I could die completely and not give Xunahs the burden of my existence, and that Superior is probably hunting for me right now."

"Well that's just plain cowardly and stupid!" Lochit shouted furiously, making me flinch slightly. "You didn't want Xunahs to feel burdened by your life, so you decided to burden him with your death? What kind of idiot are you? What if things didn't work out? What if Xunahs wound up dying while you were throwing this whole masquerade of being this 'Sauron' dude?"

"That's enough. I don't care." I said as I got up. I strode over to Raynx and glared at him. Suddenly, with speed and strength that wouldn't normally be possible from someone on his deathbed, he grabbed my wrist and looked at me sternly in the eyes and said, "I gave you a second chance at life and I don't want you to waste it. In all honesty, if I hadn't been there today, and if I had never done what I did, things may have turned out much worse. I was in complete control of everything that happened. Yes, Ryan and Superior showing up was a surprise, but I still knew you'd be okay." He had a painful sounding coughing fit and continued talking, this time in a much more hoarse and quiet voice. "My time is almost up... I think that was a lung, actually. Anyways, Xunahs. I want you to live, constantly smiling, never looking back. Always helping your friends and those in need." Without looking over to Kevin and Lochit, he continued. "And I want you two to make sure he continues being happy and continues doing what is right. Gustav, please protect him with your life."

"I had no intention of doing anything less." The Iron Knight replied.

"Heh. Okay, I think it's finally time to let go. Xunahs, good luck with your knew life. Don't squander it."

His eyes slowly shut themselves and his hand went limp, sliding down my wrist and I caught it with my other hand, holding it tightly, my whole body shook with a mix of anger and sadness. Raynx let out one final coughing fit and his hand that was being held by me began turning to dust, revealing a skeletal hand. The rest of his body slowly disintegrated from the feet, hands and head, revealing more of his skeleton and his bones started following suit until there was nothing left but a single pink, glimmering heart. Everyone's breath was being held, expecting to see the heart float away; and it did. Once it had gotten just a bit above everyone's heads, it too began to disintegrate, small crystal-like flakes fell down upon me and faded away after a couple of seconds of being exposed to the air. I heard Kevin throw up, the vomit making a very disgusting splattering noise as it hit the brick floor of the hospital room. Nurse Ema came up to him and sat him down in a chair and placed a bucket in front of him and Lochit sat next to me and asked, "Do you want to go for a walk?"

Without really thinking, I nodded and got up to go with her, careful to avoid the mess Kevin made.

* * *

Kevin: Red moon, red moon...

Tahlia: Cleanses the sinful and makes them anew...

Dyme: Shining brightly in the night sky,

Lochit: Waiting for the souls...

Xunahs: Who will be born again tonight?

Tahlia and Dyme: Who will be born again tonight?

Lochit and Xunahs: Be born again tonight?

Kevin: Next time on Noon, Chapter Seventeen: Red Moon.

* * *

Author's Note: Eeyup. Late. Well, this was another couple weeks of shtuff hitting the fan. It might be like this for a while, but I promise I will do my absolute best to make sure something like chapter fifteen doesn't happen again (in terms of tardiness). We have about four or five worlds left in the Netherworld, the primary focus being put on Kevin and co, seeing as how Sora's group has finished their story for the most part. Then again, they could get another world. Man, chapter seventeen. It feels like I should be a lot further along now. Oh well, next update will be soon, hopefully. For now, I need sleepy. As for sudden first person POV with Xunahs, I aimed for emotional value. I'm not entirely sure if I liked it, but I promise there won't be any more POV shifts for the remainder of Noon. Have a good night and a safe drive home, everyone! -scuttles off to bed-


	17. Red Moon Part One

Computer has been dead. Yup, the hard drive blew, but luckily enough, the fic was saved, as well as some other things (always have a backup), so I can continue my work and try to pull myself out of this slump of slowness –fistpump-.

Chapter Seventeen: Red Moon

"Tom! Oh for Chrissake. Tom, slow the hell down! Where the hell is your energy coming from?" Jan yelled, trying to catch up with the Nobody to no avail.

"Where is his energy coming from?" She asked Anil this time.

"The rapid healing and the sudden burst of energy is probably because his body is forcing the vampirism to work in overdrive, supplying him with energy and completely eliminating the curse put on him by Maderas altogether." Anil replied, keeping up with her sprinting sister by jogging.

"Either that... or he's actually a vampire for good and because… it's night, he's really strong right now… _ugh_! Why am I running with you guys?" Dart asked between large gulps of air.

"I don't know, maybe you should be waiting back with the ship?" Jan snapped at him, ready to spin around and punch him hard in the face with her gloved fist. "Why the hell are you so whiny? Kray isn't anything like you and he's your _little_ brother!"

"Why are you being so controlling?"

Jan turned around, red in the face and pushed Dart to the ground and shouted, "Shut up! Anil, can you go after Tom? And be quick, we need him back so we can get out of here."

The tall woman nodded and silently sped off after Tom, melting into the darkness ahead as if she was never there in the first place.

_This is impossible. I should be able to catch up with him at least. On top of that, he's only been in this castle for a couple of hours, and yet he knows the halls like the back of his hand!_ Anil stopped suddenly, seeing that Tom had stopped as well and cautiously walked up to him. _Something definitely isn't right here at all._ She thought to herself.

Suddenly, the grey walls surrounding her and Tom began to shrink and twist and she felt sick to her stomach. The Nobody turned to face her, looking cold and expressionless with a pitiful gasp for air, she started falling unconscious.

* * *

Somaxth walked at a brisk pace, leading Ashlee and Kairi, who were being closely tailed by Leashex and ten Bookmaster Heartless with two Barriermaster Heartless in behind those two, shielding the Heartless present. Kairi looked around nervously, seeing all of the darkness that had been eating away at and eroding the walls of the castle and was also trying to figure out how the castle could have possibly come back after the entire World That Never Was was destroyed in Xemnas', Sora's and Riku's final fight.

"I apologize for the tight security, Kairi and Ashlee, but I must ensure the two of you don't escape and that Halixat doesn't try to use the two of you against us in her own plans."

"What are those plans?" Ashlee asked, also looking at the walls, but with interest rather than unease.

"I'm unsure, myself." Somaxth answered. "Out of everyone among us, when we were all still together and not dead for the most part, Halixat was the newest member to our group and always kept herself distant from everyone except for Raynx and Venxik, both of whom Leashex and I agree were the two most powerful among all of us. We don't even know much about her abilities."

"Heh. Your little club is pretty dysfunctional, isn't it?" Ashlee asked, smirking slightly.

The lead Heartless gave a slight laugh as he turned around a corner and said, "Yeah. We are definitely not a fully functioning group of bad guys, are we? But we're Heartless, we follow the rule of the most powerful among us. Even though those like Leashex and I have a higher form of intelligence than that of the drones, we still follow the commands of the most powerful among us, and that person is without a doubt, Venxik. However, Raynx was able to act independent of him, as were Xochitl, Maxjisne, Axdrane and Xehanort. I find this rather confusing, because those four still followed Raynx without a single question about his motives. Halixat is yet another strange case; even though there is closeness to Venxik, from what I've been able to see, Halixat still acts completely independent of him and follows her own agenda. But Venxik also acts in a similar manner, pulling the occasional vanishing act."

"Which makes us think." Leashex started, taking over for Somaxth. "That maybe Venxik isn't the head honcho here after all. And if that's the case, who could possibly be powerful enough to call Venxik his pawn? The only people we can think of is that man I encountered inside Kingdom Hearts, when I was getting the Crystal of Darkness, or perhaps Superior."

"Yes, that's also a possibility, but they fought on completely equal terms. It doesn't seem likely."

"Right."

Frustrated, Ashlee said, "Yes, that's dandy and all, you have your problems and y'know what? We do too. As much as we would like to care, that's beyond us. I really can't say I give a damn, what with lacking a heart and whatnot."

"Yo."

"...Please don't be funny, Heartless Me."

Kairi giggled slightly and became serious again. "So, Halixat. We'll have to be careful around her, right? Do you have any escape measures for us in case things get hairy?"

"...No, this was too short notice."

The girl smiled sweetly and said, "That's okay, I don't mind getting involved if she pulls anything funny."

Somaxth chuckled and said, "You're an interesting individual, Princess."

"It's because she wants to prove herself to Sora." Ashlee said, nodding wisely.

"Heh. Right, shh. We're almost there."

The two girls nodded and kept quiet as they neared a lone girl sitting on a surgery table with a body lying next to her.

* * *

There was a strange and eerie singing ringing throughout the Overlord's Castle which took Flonne out of her peaceful sleep. She rolled herself out of her bed, looking around groggily, trying to find the source of the singing, but couldn't find it in her room. Almost as if she were in a trance, she got up onto her feet and walked out of her room.

"Who would be singing at this hour...? Are Lochit and Tahlia doing karaoke again?" At the thought of her beautiful voice being the thing to wake up everyone in the castle in the morning, she woke up a bit more and ran to the great hall, where the music was coming from. (A/N: I've heard a drama CD in which Flonne sings. Just like her cooking, Flonne's singing is lethal, she just isn't aware of it.)

As she entered the hall, she saw a mass of Prinnies moving out of the castle through the Dimension Gate in a calm and peaceful manner, rather than their usually chaotic rampaging. Feeling even more awake with panic as the Prinnies filed out of the castle, she called for them and got no reply. One brushed past her, completely oblivious to her presence and she reached out to grab it and asked, "Excuse me, but where are you going...?" The Prinny, still oblivious to her, shrugged her hand off his shoulder and continued his march and the Angel Trainee heard it humming the same tune that had woke her up.

A pink Prinny in the crowd stopped suddenly and turned around to face Flonne and walked up to her and said, "Please don't try to stop them."

"Huh?"

"Just let them be." The Prinny said gently. "They were finally able to atone for their sins. So now, all we can do is pray for their happiness in their next lives..."

Flonne smiled widely and thought, _Oh, I know! Is this what they mean when they say, "fly-by-night"?_ "Umm, Big Sis Prinny."

"Yes?"

"You seem different from the other Prinnies. Weren't you the one to give me medicine when I lost my pendant?"

"Wh-What are you talking about?"

"You even speak differently from them." Flonne said, moving closer as if she could see something in the Prinny's eyes.

"Wh-What do you mean...dood? I'm the same as all the other Prinnies... eh... dood."

The Angel smiled again and said, "I understand. You have your reasons, right? Okay then, I'll just direct this to whoever is listening." She clasped her hands together as if she were praying and said, "Thank you for your help."

The Prinny sighed and said, "...Flonne. Since you've come here, the Prince has changed... dood."

Shocked, Flonne jumped back slightly and asked, "Huh? You really think so?"

"Sure, dood."

"Thank goodness." Flonne said, smiling again. Her face suddenly became serious again and she said, "They say that I see things the way I want them to be, so I wasn't sure if Laharl had really changed or not. But, it can't just be my imagination if you noticed too." She started smiling again. "Alright! That means Laharl is definitely awakening to the idea of love! Love is magnificent!"

The Prinny laughed slightly and said, "Heh... surely it is..."

* * *

"She's been gone too long." Dart said, staring down the hall Anil had gone.

"Yeah, she has. Okay guys, we need to book it now." Without saying anything else, or giving the others a chance to follow her, Jan ran down the hall. Sora and Riku exchanged nods and Sora went into Final Form to chase after her.

Riku and Dart ran after Sora, following close behind.

"A complete and total ruse that all of you fell for quite nicely." Tom said, unable to suppress his smugness.

Anil struggled to her feet as the room straightened itself out again and she drew a dagger out from her belt. "So, you're still under their control, are you?" She asked.

"No, I'm moving independently."

"I see."

"You don't talk much, do you, Anil?

"I try to keep it to a minimum. Less chatter, more splatter."

"Grizzly."

"I know."

Tom chuckled quietly and then grinned at her. She returned the grin and the two combatants charged at each other. The Nobody summoned his axe as he got close and brought it down on her head and she rolled out of the way, ramming against a wall and knocking the breath out of her lungs. The spot where she had been before was completely gone, torn up by the axe and only a gaping hole was left in its place. "Do you really think you can win?" Tom asked smugly.

"Of course I can. You're a kid that has borrowed powers, and I'm a grown woman that has experience in wars that have gone on for as long as you've been alive." She dashed at Tom and leapt over the gaping hole he made and rammed the butt of her knife into his chest. This close up, she got a chance to see his eyes, filled with hatred and rage, and smiled at him as she forced him to the ground.

"I knew you were being controlled." Anil raised her hand to the earpiece on her head and pressed a button and said calmly, "Jan? It's Anil. I am getting a taste of déjà vu. Someone in this castle is pulling strings and Tom is one of the puppets."

"I'm getting the same feeling. HYAH!" Jan responded. Anil heard Sora shout something in the background and the connection was lost.

* * *

"What do you mean gone?!" Laharl shouted furiously. Etna, looking equally as frustrated said, "Like I said, several Prinnies are missing!"

"Why?" Lochit asked from behind her, confused by the lack of Prinnies that usually worked their butts off in the morning to avoid punishment dished out by Etna. Kevin, Xunahs, Tahlia and Dyme were all there, looking equally as confused as she was.

"Well, maybe it's because you treated them so badly." Etna said, glaring at the Prince.

"Boy, isn't that calling the kettle black?" Tahlia chimed in, earning a venomous glare from the demon.

Laharl, looking thoughtful said, "Hmm... maybe the twenty hour work days with no breaks was just a _bit_ harsh." This earned a look of distaste from Kevin, who said, "A bit harsh. Not over the top or anything, just a bit unfair. Nothing to call lawyers about."

Etna turned to face him and said, "Half of those Prinnies WERE lawyers."

"...Ah. I see they aren't so weasely when they have the body of a stuffed penguin."

"Yeah, and in conditions like that, it's no wonder they chose to fly-by-night." Flonne said, looking at Laharl seriously.

"Fly-by-night?" Laharl asked. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

"Uh... no! Nothing at all!" Flonne replied, trying to cover herself.

Big Sis Prinny looked up from the floor scrubbing she was doing and waddled over to the prince and said, "Prince."

"Hmm? What?"

"Don't worry. They'll be alright... dood." She replied soothingly.

"I don't care about _them_! What I care about is how people will react to me letting my vassals come and go as they please! That's why we're gonna find them!"

"Even if it is a big waste of time?" Tahlia asked, yawning.

"Even if it is a big waste of time!" Laharl shouted.

"That's so mean! You don't have to say it like that!" Flonne said, looking at Laharl angrily, which was a bit of a shock for those present. Etna put a hand on Flonne's shoulder and said, "It's okay Flonne, he's just too embarrassed to admit the truth."

"Really?"

"Yeah... I think."

* * *

"Hello there, Somaxth, Leashex and prisoners."

Somaxth and Leashex did a quick scan of the room before letting their guard down and the male Heartless said, "Halixat," giving her a slight nod. He looked over at Venxik, who was still unconscious and lying down next to Halixat.

"Keeping our fearless leader company, are you?" He asked, which got a hate-filled laugh from Halixat, who jumped off the table and walked up to the four people that had just entered the room. Ashlee and Kairi tensed up, ready to summon their Keyblades at a moment's notice. Despite her height (or lack thereof), she was the enemy, and a dangerous one at that.

"That I am, Som-Som. He's been pretty down since you and Leashex betrayed him, you know." Halixat said in a mocking tone. She turned around to face him and threw her still existing arm up in the air and let out a loud and annoyed scream. "I leave for a few hours to help one dejected demon of a vampire take over the world and I come back to learn Venxik's mind has been shattered by his right hand man and woman. This is why Raynx split up from you guys in the first place! He hated the lack of authority Venxik had over you."

"Do you know what he was going to do?" Somaxth asked, cocking an eyebrow.

The girl spun around again to face him, looking smug. "Yep. He was going to suck you two up, along with this whole world after he ate up that little Wyrmy Wyrm in his mind. After that, he would convert all that darkness into a new body for him and would become the avatar of destruction he was originally supposed to be." She turned back to face Venxik again and snapped her fingers. A dozen, if not more Invisibles appeared around Leashex, Somaxth, Ashlee and Kairi, as well as one Orcus, a larger, more powerful cousin to the Invisibles that stood guard over Halixat. Somaxth's eyes widened as a spell circle formed at the girl's feet and she raised her arm again. "Now then, Venxik. Be a good boy as I mend the cracks and fissures of your mind. It might hurt a bit, but you'll be good as new in no time."

A brilliant, purple light that blinded those in the room exploded around the Heartless on the table.

* * *

"S-Stop it, you're hurting him!"

"Heh… a demon like you, caring about the pain of a living thing? Don't be so absurd. Go back to being the sobbing wreck you were when I got here."

"No."

The man that stood on the other side of the great door that cut off the fight Tom and Anil were having lowered his hands temporarily and looked over at his shoulder to the olive green wood golem that was bound in spelled chains that sapped the strength from his body, ensuring he couldn't escape and asked, "Oh? So the little demon wants to stick up for itself now?"

The demon was silent and the man chuckled smugly and returned to his puppeteering of the Nobody on the other side of the door.

* * *

"We need Gabby here." Jan said as she ran down the hall, hearing the sounds of Tom's and Anil's battle. Dart nodded, all of his whining completely wiped as the seriousness of the situation gripped him. Sora was further up ahead of them and Riku had stayed behind to take care of Heartless that were popping up.

"It's strange that the castle hasn't started falling at the seams though." Jan muttered and Dart nodded yet again and said, "Well, this is just a theory, but what if there was someone else working with Halixat and Maderas? Someone that hadn't been found by those already here. And what if that person had put special wards up over this castle to protect it from the darkness and intruders?"

"That's a possibility. Do you think this person is controlling Tom? Or do you think that maybe…"

Dart sighed a bit and said, "If that's the case, if _she's_ back, then we'll be able to handle her. And by handle, I mean…"

"Completely obliterate?"

"With gusto."

* * *

Laharl lead the group of demons (well, cursed humans/Nobodys, one demon and one angel) through the Dimension Gate to an absolutely frigid snow-covered mountain and said, "Well, here we are. Zommie said the Prinnies went to the Lunar Snowfield, but there's nothing here but snow and ice!"

"So, why is it called Lunar Snowfield?" Lochit asked, not bothered at all by the coldness.

"No idea, never been here before. Prince?" Etna looked over to Laharl, who merely shrugged and said, "Beats me."

"It feels pretty serene, actually. It's quiet and the snow on the ground is just right to make this frozen wasteland seem like a wonder of nature. The red moon in the distance really adds to the effect." Kevin said, pointing to a large red moon that was way off in the distance, taking up a huge part of the horizon. Oddly enough, its blood red light didn't reflect on the pure white snow. A breeze blew over the field, kicking up a cloud of small, crystallized flakes of water and once it cleared, a bunch of Imps, small, yellow bat-shaped demons with what looked to be a skeletal spine acting as a tail, popped out of the snow, surrounding the group.

"Damn it, an ambush! If you weren't making poetry about snow and standing around like a moron, this wouldn't have happened!" Laharl shouted, looking absolutely furious.

Kevin summoned Vortex and grinned slightly. "Well, we can't do much right now, can't we? The way I see it, they were waiting for us. Maybe the Prinnies stole your money and used it to hire them to stall us."

Laharl's glare at the Nobody darkened and he looked around at the group of demons and let out an evil laugh. "AHAHAhahahaha! Those Prinnies think they can stop _me_, the Great Prince Laharl?!"

"Yup. Said you dress like a girl too." Tahlia said, receiving a venomous glare from Kevin.

Dark energy exploded from Laharl, melting the ages old ice and snow around his feet and rushed to the nearest demons. Nonchalantly, Kevin walked over to Tahlia and covered her eyes, saying, "This isn't something for a lady to watch." The girl protested, trying to take the Nobody's hand away from her eyes as the pathetic and terrified squeaks of the Imps echoed across the snowy field and finally Kevin gave in, just as the last demon was sliced in half by Laharl's large broadsword.

Laharl made an annoyed grunting noise and walked ahead of the group, leading them towards the small mountain, whose peak was neatly set at the middle of the giant red moon.

* * *

Sora sped along the old stone halls of the old castle that was all that remained of the nameless world he and his friends had arrived on, the bright silvery light from his form change illuminating the path ahead of him. There was a sudden turn in the hall, from which he could hear Anil and Tom fighting and he followed it, quickly rolling to the right to avoid a boulder larger than himself being flung at him, completely obliterating the wall behind him, exposing an abyss of swirling darkness where the castle grounds once were. A strange silver-blue flame was the only thing separating the darkness and the castle.

The Keybearer got to his feet and sliced Oathkeeper through a second boulder that was flying towards him and sped through the cracks, preparing a Firaga spell that would be launched at Tom.

Anil heard Sora shout at her for her to get out of the way and slid in between Tom's legs and jabbed the backs of his knees with her elbows, forcing him to kneel as the big, red ball of fire sped towards him. Her feet touched the door that Tom had been protecting and vaulted off of it and grabbed onto the supporting beam of the ceiling, clinging on for dear life as the fireball hit the Nobody below with explosive force, knocking centuries old dust off of the ceiling and into her exposed face and hair.

After making sure the coast was clear, she deftly dropped to the ground and shook her head, creating a thick cloud of dust that obscured her vision. She put her hand above the settling cloud and flashed Sora thumbs up and walked cautiously to the door Tom was slumped against, seemingly unconscious.

She nudged the Nobody's foot with her own moccasin-wearing left foot and his eyes snapped open, looking up at her. They were cold and empty, yet filled with an unquenchable fury. She shivered at the sight of his eyes, giving him enough of an opening to trap her in place by using the bricks in the walls and floor to bind her limbs to her body. He casually pulled a long, sharp dagger made from stone out from the part of the floor his hand was lying on a moment ago and got up, flashing a grin that reflected the starlight made by distant worlds, giving the area around him an eerie glow. He rested the dagger across her throat and said tauntingly to Sora, "Don't move now, or she'll be gone like the rest of this world will be in a few minutes. Mind you, unlike the world, she won't have any chance of coming back."

Sora's eyes darted back and forth, scanning the narrow hall for some sort of means of distraction to save Anil from her peril. Seeing there was no hope for the situation to be fixed, he let the silver light fade away and Goofy and Donald appeared at his sides, shield and staff at the ready for the opponent before them.

"Not sure if you could hear what I told your friend over there while you're one with his wardrobe, but if you make any moves in my direction, this girl goes the way of the dinosaurs."

Goofy gasped and looked at Donald worriedly and asked, "Gawrsh! Does that mean a meteor is going to hit her? Wait... wouldn't we go ka-plooey too?"

Donald just gave an exasperated sigh and said, "Yes. Yes he does and yes we will."

"Gawrsh... he's crazy."

* * *

Dart slowed down after hearing the explosion caused by Sora's Firaga and jogged quietly the rest of the way to hide behind the boulder the previously mentioned teen had also sliced in half. Jan leapt forwards and ducked on the other side of the boulder and gave him a thumbs up, signalling she was ready for Dart to make his move. He nodded and groped for his weapon as she put on her night vision goggles and glared sternly ahead at Tom, the only source of light in the room.

He pulled out his laser sight equipped, silenced sniper rifle and slipped his own pair of night vision goggles that were hanging off the belt holding up his camouflage khakis and placed a tranquilizer round that he had been holding in his coat pocket and lined up the shot, aiming for Tom's thigh and pulled the trigger.

There was a muffled _pop_ as a silver dart was launched from the barrel of the gun and flew straight into the Nobody's leg. Stunned by the sudden sharp object in his leg, Tom let go of Anil and jumped back and grabbed hold of the dart and tried pulling it out. He gasped, feeling his right hand go numb and he couldn't move it. Feeling his other leg go numb, he fell to the ground, completely frozen in place and on his side.

Jan seized the opportunity and ran full speed at Anil, smashing the stone shackles holding her in place with a few kicks and hit the thick wooden door that Tom was lying in front of yet again with yet another stone shattering kick, causing it to explode inwards, splinters of wood as large as her arm flying in every direction in the seemingly empty room.

She adjusted her sight and scanned the room. All she saw were broken iron shackles that had a worn out spell on them that were designed to hold down a very powerful prisoner.

* * *

"Hey! Hey, You!" Laharl shouted, staring directly at Flonne, who had turned to him after the first time he called out to her.

"Me?" She asked, which got a reply of, "Yeah, you." Out of Laharl. "You really don't know anything about the Prinnies? You've been acting weird ever since this morning..."

"I don't know anything. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell _you_!" The Angel Trainee replied, frowning at him angrily. Laharl recoiled in shock and said, "Wh-What!?" This caused Lochit to let out a low whistle and Etna to gawk in shock, thinking something along the lines of: _Is she trying to get herself killed?!_

"Prince Laharl, I have a name and it's Flonne. It's not 'Hey!' or 'You!' You have never called me by my name, not even once, since we first met!"

"Wow, Laharl really pushed a button." Lochit whispered to Xunahs, who nodded, sharing Laharl's and Etna's shock. "It really looks like he smashed it down as hard as he could, actually." Tahlia chimed in, getting a nod of agreement from Dyme.

"S-So? What's it to you?" Laharl asked, trying to look tough and failing miserably.

With her petite feathers still ruffled, Flonne said, "People's feelings are delicate. They can be hurt just by the slightest insult. You are too inconsiderate, Laharl. You should approach people with more love. The Prinnies ran away because you have no love!"

This got an approving nod out of Kevin and Dyme and a furious Laharl stomping the ice under his feet and he screamed, "What!? You stupid Love Freak!! Who do you think I-"

"There! That's the attitude I'm talking about! You'll never become a respected Overlord with an attitude like that!" Recovering from her shock, Etna walked in between the two fighting people and said, "Flonne, that doesn't seem like the kind of advice an angel should be giving..."

Laharl glared at Flonne and said, "Ugh. What do you know about being an Overlord anyways? I'm not talking to you anymore!"

"...Way to be respectable there, Prince." Lochit whispered under her breath so that only Tahlia and Xunahs could hear her.

A few minutes passed as they walked silently through the icy path towards the cliff, which steadily grew bigger as they got closer. The group stopped as a loud chatter met their ears and Tahlia was the first to spot the source. A dozen or so small, stump-like demons with two blue tentacle-like arms were lined up along the upcoming valley walls. Just as they entered, the myriad of demons noticed potential prey walking into their nest and jumped off of the cliffs, surrounding the group, with the youngest and smallest hiding behind the older and broader of the demons.

One of the biggest stumps growled and Kevin backed away, saying, "They seem kinda hungry."

Tahlia grinned, cracked her knuckles and said, "Well then, how about we give them A KNUCKLE SANDWICH?!" She jumped at them and punched one in the face as hard as she could with an electrically charged fist, splintering the wood around its face and flinging it back. It didn't get up after the attack and the younger Oakrots (the stump demons) behind it began to shuffle nervously before grouping together to form a barrier to protect their fallen friend.

Xunahs just hung back, as did Kevin and Lochit, as the others dealt with the demons that tried to attack them.

"I don't get it." Xunahs muttered. Lochit sighed and patted Xunahs on the shoulder. "Don't get what?"

"Why Raynx went out of his way to do so much for me. Why he sacrificed himself for me. 'Oh, I had an epiphany' doesn't work! That's a really poor-ass excuse and doesn't even begin to redeem himself for everything he's done to me and everyone else!"

Lochit made a bench out of the ice-covered ground and sat on it, with Xunahs sitting next to her and Kevin on the other side of him. The Nobody looked at him with concern and trying to be comforting, said, "Well, it's not like he expected to be redeemed with saying he recognized his sins. He sacrificed himself for the redemption, knowing you'd probably continue to hate him after it. But Xunahs, you don't have to worry about it..."

"We're here for you." Gustav said firmly, grabbing Xunahs' shoulder. The three on the bench jumped slightly as the demon spoke, but the two sitting beside Xunahs quickly recovered and looked up and smiled at him.

With his head bowed, Xunahs gave a shuddering laugh and said, "Thanks guys. But, it's still really confusing, y'know?"

"Yes, we do. But we're going to be here for you, to help you through everything." Kevin said. "But of course, don't expect us to hold your hands the whole way through." Lochit added, getting an approving nod from Nobody and demon.

"Yeah... thanks. I'll come to you guys when I have a problem, okay?"

"Right! You aren't alone in this world, you know?" Lochit said.

"Or any for that matter." Kevin added, smirking at Lochit.

"Right. So, Xunahs, get back up on your feet, everyone's done with the demons now." Gustav said, walking around to the front and disappearing again before their eyes.

* * *

"Etna."

"Hmm?"

Looking like a hurt and lost puppy, Flonne asked, "Why is Laharl so stubborn?" Etna looked at the Angel Trainee as if she were an alien and said, "You're kidding, right? He's always been like that."

The angel's eyes became more stern and she said, "I don't think that's entirely true. Haven't you noticed that his emotions are slowly changing? It makes me think that he's finally awakening to the power of love..."

"Ohohohoho... So that's why you were so angry." Etna pointed out, smiling widely. Flonne looked ashamed for being figured out so easily and said, "Y-yes..." doing her best not to make eye contact with the demon.

"Well, that's a demon for ya. You seem to have your hopes pretty high, but don't you think that asking for love from a demon is a bit ridiculous?"

"...You think it's ridiculous?"

Etna's smile dissolved and she looked down at her hands sadly, trying to look like she was examining her finger nails. "Well, the Prince's case is a bit unique..."

"Unique?" Flonne asked, interested for even the slightest hint at Laharl's past.

"Yep... you see, his mother... the Queen, was an eccentric person... She was always talking about love and kindness."

The angel looked taken aback by love and kindness being called weird and said, "...That's not weird at all."

"Well, I didn't hate her, but I guess she couldn't help it, being a human and all."

"A human?"

"Yep. She was a witch that came here to study. The King fell in love with her at first sight. And eventually, the Prince was born."

"Really?"

"Yep. She was always saying things like, demons can love too. Whenever the Prince did something bad, she would scold him, because she wanted to raise him to be a good boy." Etna paused, and a kind smile spread across her face and she said, "Maybe you remind him of his mother, Flonne."

Flonne quietly thanked the demon for the compliment and asked, "If he was raised that way, why is he the way he is now?"

Etna's kindness was swept away again and she looked depressed again. She let out a loud sigh and said, "...The Queen died."

"Huh?"

"A long time ago, the Prince was infected with a rare disease that even the King couldn't cure... There was only one way to save him..."

Flonne's expression fell and she stared at her feet. She took a deep breath and asked, "Which was...?"

"The life of one who loved him." Etna said.

"Then..."

"That's right... The Queen took her own life, despite the King's efforts to stop her... Because of that, Laharl became filled with hatred when it came to the very thought of 'love' or 'happiness and emotionally cut himself off from everyone else."

"How sad..." Flonne whispered. Suddenly, a fire lit in her eyes and she looked up at Etna and she asked, "So unless his hatred fades, Laharl will have to live this rest of his life without love? That's just not fair!"

"...Maybe so. But, I don't think he's intentionally trying to hate love, either. I mean, hatred and love aren't things that are just made and destroyed easily, right? But maybe, Flonne, you were a bit rough on him today."

Flonne gasped in shock and Etna, grinning widely, said, "Well, don't try to get me involved." And she walked away, leaving Flonne to think about the conversation she had with Etna and about how she could help Laharl come out of his shell and accept love once again.

* * *

"There are demons everywhere, Kevin!" Xunahs shouted, his back against his brother's. Lochit was assisting Tahlia and Dyme with a particularly troublesome bunch of spear wielding demon warriors that were called Battlers, leaving the foster siblings to deal with the bow wielding Battlers. The icy hill that lead up to the Red Moon was close, and there was a multitude of moving, blue shapes on it. Everyone was positive that they were the Prinnies that had run away. But what was interesting is that there were thousands of Prinnies, which means there were other demons out there that have lost their servants too. Did all of the Prinnies plan a rebellion against the demons and this icy domain was their headquarters?

Kevin snapped out of the trance the moon seemed to have put him under and then he took a deep breath. The ice around his feet melted and a cloud of steam erupted, completely concealing the two. Suddenly it condensed, becoming a sphere of water that obscured the already fuzzy and darkened form of Kevin, who was crouching now, his glowing blue eyes being the only colour on his body.

"Time to get it on!" He shouted, with a mix of his normal voice and a strange noise, almost as if he were gargling water.

"Figures that Laharl would have such powerful demons hiding with his troops. Come on men, bows at the ready!" One of the demons cried. The Nobody grinned and raised his hands high above his head and brought them flying back down. He repeated the motion a few times until a large portion of the snow and ice around them had melted and become a pool of water. He jumped in the air, the water flowed with and around him, completely trapping him inside a larger, more monstrous armour that looked similar to how he normally looked.

A few of the demons shied away, seeing the monster that now towered above their heads, staring down at them, ready to strike should any of them make a move against it. "How does it make you feel guys, having a bunch of lowly _Prinnies_ hiring you to do their dirty work for you?" Kevin asked, trying to goad the opposing force into battle first.

"It doesn't make us feel a thing. It's our duty to protect this land and the Prinnies that come by us so that they can finally face their destinies." The Champion that had previously ordered his men to stick together answered. It was becoming quite apparent to Kevin that he was their leader.

Intrigued, the Nobody slid down to the right foot of his aquatic armour and said, "Really? Didn't they already die as humans?"

"That they did, Halfling." The demon replied, smirking. Taken aback, Kevin asked, "Halfling? What the balls is that?"

"A half human, half demon. Your friend over there is a full human, right? You guys are nothing compared to real demons, I hope you know."

Kevin and Xunahs exchanged grins and turned back to face the Champion. "Racism, is it? Xunahs, you take one half, I'll take the other."

"Right."

Kevin, and his armour dived forwards at a group of the demons, their leader included and trapped them within a dome of water. They tried to swim out of it, but were pulled back in by some unseen force. The Nobody floated in the middle, arms crossed and grinning happily as his victims slowly drowned. His happiness was cut short, however as the Champion had somehow escaped and turned around, his bowstring pulled back with an arrow loaded and charging with blue energy.

The demon pointed his bow high into the sky and let go of the bowstring, launching the arrow into the sky. As it arched through the air and tilted downwards, it split apart into five, smaller arrows which plummeted down towards the aquatic dome, with Kevin stuck in the center of the attack.

Kevin's eyes widened with horror as he tried to pull himself away from the dome, but for some reason, he was rooted in place. He let out a gurgled scream as the arrows connected with the dome and sank into the icy and snowy ground below him, the one that was in the dead center of the swarm missing him by a hair's breadth. He let out a sigh of relief and realized his joy was short lived as the arrows hummed with energy and the water around them began to boil. Just when the heat became unbearable, the energy exploded outwards, completely vaporising the dome and throwing Kevin skywards.

He collided with the ground and the black fuzziness of his image faded away and he was back to his normal, cursed human self. He opened his eyes as he heard the boot of the Champion crunch in the snow next to his head; the warrior glared down at him and said, "That was a pathetic show of using your abilities. If you had even half a mind, you would have practiced using them before using them in the battlefield. I've seen demons use that kind of power before, and it always leaves them wide open to attack. If it were anyone else, they would have finished you off."

Kevin spat out a mouthful of water that hadn't disappeared with the transformation and asked, "Well, why didn't you finish me off?"

"You weren't worth it. My job isn't to kill some kid that's got a head too big for his shoulders. It's to stop people from interfering with the balance of life and death."

Kevin let out a chuckle and slid out from under the demon and jumped up onto his feet, Vortex in hand and crackling with electricity. "I see." He said. "Normally, I would be sympathetic to you after telling me that, but I now have my honour to uphold, you see. I am a kid, yes, almost seventeen years old, actually, but in demon years, a kid. But I will not be called a waste of time after everything I've been through and everything I've done."

The Champion put away his bow and pulled out a sword and said, "Heh. Fine, but this time, no mercy from me."

"Good, I wouldn't want you to hold back just because you think little of me." Kevin replied cheerily.

The two sprang from their positions on the small arena and their blades clashed with a loud, metallic _clang_ mixed with a loud electric crackle. Kevin jumped back and then into the sky, unfolding his mechanical wings. He charged Vortex with lightning and dove down at the Champion, launching balls of lightning from his left hand. The Champion was too busy deflecting and dodging the attack to avoid the Keyblade that flew straight at him. Despite that, he jumped away, and an otherwise fatal wound was turned into a gash across his right arm.

"Good use of magic to distract me there, kid. Maybe I had you all wrong after all!" The Champion rushed at him, his sword held ready to attack the Nobody. His eyes widened as the Nobody disappeared and he heard someone from behind him say, "Damn straight you did." He turned around just in time to get a face full of Kevin's foot and was sent sprawling backwards into the side of the icy mountain.

He weakly got up onto his hands and knees as Kevin approached and said, "Please, finish me! I've failed my job. There is no way I can beat someone with your skill!"

Kevin was amazed by the sudden begging and crouched so that his eyes were level with the demon's bowed head. "Nope. Why should I kill someone when I need to thank them instead?"

It was the Champion's turn to be shocked. He looked up at Kevin and asked, "W-What?"

"You helped me snap out of my funk and made me take you seriously as an opponent rather than let me show off and kill me without so much as a helping hand. Why should I not show someone the same mercy they showed me?"

The demon got back onto his hands and knees and said, "No! You must kill me now! I failed my duty to keep people from interfering with the final passing of the Prinnies!"

Kevin sighed and got onto his own hands and knees, head bowed lower than the demon's and said, "If that is the case, you must kill me as well."

"HUH?!"

"I failed my job as a Keybearer and let my own ego get ahead of me and wound up almost killing myself because I felt like showing off for something that isn't what I'm supposed to do. I should be maintaining balance with the worlds, not trying to break it." He looked up and into the eyes of the Champion, who stared at him with disbelief. After a brief pause, the two sat on their rears and Kevin asked, "So. What's this about interfering with the balance of life and death?"

* * *

Ashlee: Okay, wait. A cliffhanger? Seriously? All of our lives are hanging in the balance and you fork us a _CLIFFHANGER?!_

Kairi: Ashlee, please. The script...

Ashlee: Oh, right. AHEM! –gets into character- O, woe is me! My life is nearly at an end!

Kairi: As is mine! Who will save us?

Mystery People: WE WILL!

Kairi: -gasp!- Over yonder, blanketed by the black shadows of night, who is it?!

Ashlee: -chucks away script- No clue. Some prissy dudes from the looks of things.

Vyers: It is I, Dark Adon-

Ashlee: Mid-Boss.

Vyers: -seethe-

Axel: And I, the invincible Dark Hero, AXEL!

Ashlee: Wait, you aren't even supposed to show up in this fanfiction!

Kairi: Ashlee... Fourth Wall...

Ashlee: Screw the Fourth Wall! I've got money!

Kairi: -sigh- Next time on Kingdom Hearts: Noon: Red Moon Part Two!

Ashlee: Acting OOC is normally fun, but being a rich bitch isn't.

Kairi: No, really? Looked like a blast.

Ashlee: Whohoa! Quite the snarky tongue for one so pure of heart.

Axel: Lesbian subtext?

Ashlee: ...-sigh- Just end the chapter.

* * *

And so, we end this chapter... yep. This was another chapter fifteen/sixteen in length... -sigh- But everything is better with my computer and a whole bunch of other stuff. HOPEFULLY, updates will be more often than two months between updates.

Actually, I'm pretty damn sure they will be.


	18. Red Moon Part Two

Author's Note: _ _ Ninja update

* * *

Chapter 18: Red Moon Part Two

Jan walked in through the door with Anil and Dart standing guard over Tom's unconscious body. Sora, Riku, Donald and Goofy walked in slowly behind her, all on their guard after she pointed out the shackles lying in the ground. There was no dust on them, so they had to have snapped recently, maybe even during the fight.

As they went around the wall that had held up the chains that held the prisoner, they noticed a door that stood completely ajar and that there was a bulky body lying down in front of it, mumbling something under its breath. Jan cautiously edged towards it, motioning for the others to do so and when she got close enough, let out a low whistle under her breath.

Lying before her was a demon from the Netherworld, especially common in Veldime, known as a Wood Golem. It was a cut above most other Wood Golems, however. It had a more olive green colour to its wooden limbs than the usual golden brown the common Wood Golems had. She heard it mumble something softly and lowered her head to hear better and heard the golem whisper, "I'm sorry for not protecting you... he's gotten away. I'm so sorry..."

Jan sighed and much to the amazement of the four with her, picked up the hulking demon, standing at just over seven feet with her hands and carrying it almost as if she were giving it a piggy back ride with no visible signs of effort. They followed her back to Anil and Dart and she placed it down gently with them.

"I found the prisoner Tom was talking about. He seems to be a good kid, from the way his voice sounds; he's young in demon years. He has a few injuries that he got in a fight, holding off our puppet master, but he should be better with his natural healing ability. But, Dart, I still want you to patch anything big up, okay?"

"Right." He said, pulling out a first aid kit that was in a pack propped up against a wall. He got a roll of bandage and looked at it with a heavy frown and got to work on mending a rather deep cut in the demon's left forearm.

"Sora, Riku, I want you two to come with me." She looked at Donald and Goofy and then back at Sora. "How far away can you be and still be able to change forms?"

"Pretty far, I'd say about twenty meters. Before we had to be practically touching."

"Right."

Donald stepped up, looking angry and squaked, "Hey! We aren't going anywhere without Sora!" To which Goofy added, "That's right! We're his best friends, we aren't just going to let him go after a bad guy alone, right, Sora?"

"Guys..."

Jan looked thoughtfully at the two and said, "I really don't want to put you two in that kind of position. The person we're going up against appears to be able to control other people. How he does it and how well he can do it is not a given, but I don't want the two of you being used against us and getting hurt. I would go by myself, but I need someone to go with me just in case he gets a hold of me, Dart and Anil are the only two here good with first aid, so they need to take care of Tom and our sleeping giant over here, which leaves Sora and Riku. I could take either one, but if one of them gets taken over, I'd need the other one to help snap him out of it so I don't injure the other one too much, or get them killed, or myself, for that matter."

"She does make a good point, Donald..." Goofy said thoughtfully, which earned him a scowl from the duck in question. "Something smells fishy about this! How do we even know we can trust them?"

"Good question Donald, I'm glad to know I'm not the only brain addled person here. Jan, you and your friend appeared out of nowhere, carrying the deceased bodies of our friends and allies and expect us to trust you?"

Jan looked to Anil for help, and when she realized she wasn't going to get any, she sighed and said, "Fair enough. You can't be trusted to expect a group of strangers, especially given the circumstances. But! These circumstances that we have met under are exactly why you have to listen to us and our orders to make our jobs easier."

Dart looked up from the arm he was bandaging on the fallen Wood Golem and suggested, "Why not show them the letter from the King, you blithesome flapperdoodle?"

"... I... ugh. I can't believe I forgot about that!" She walked over to Dart and dug through his pack to bring out a letter sealed with a green wax Mickey Mouse head. She offered it to the two Keybearers, who opened the envelope carefully and Sora read it out loud.

"_Dear Sora, Riku, Tom, Donald and Goofy. If you're reading this letter, that means the situation is worse than I originally thought it would be, and you have gotten in over your heads. That would mean that Anil, Dart and Jan are also with you and are supposed to help you with the situation at hand to make sure you come out of this okay. Please, I want you to listen to them and follow their orders. They may not look it, but they are experienced warriors and will be able to guide you through the tough spots._

_Your friend, King Mickey."_

"There, happy?"

Riku, Sora, Donald and Goofy read over the letter carefully a few times and Riku muttered, "Well, it looks like his writing." And Goofy added, "It has the seal too, it's really hard to copy it right."

"So does that mean you guys believe us?"

"Well, for now, we don't have much of a choice, do we?" Sora replied.

Going back to bandaging up the demon's arm, Dart muttered, "Didn't stop you guys from getting ready to fight us in the first place."

* * *

"Well, you see, the whole lot of you are interfering with the way the Prinny's reincarnation system. I'm not sure if you have heard if reincarnation in other demons, but the way it works is that a demon, or Prinny will reincarnate into a new form of life and retain some of the skills, abilities and all of the knowledge they had in their past life. A Prinny, as you may be aware, is a the soul of a human that has sinned and is trapped inside the body of an explosive penguin and is forced to work for next to no pay until the time comes that they are able to reincarnate into a human, demon or Celestian."

Xunahs, who had finished his fighting with the help of Gustav and Lochit, was sitting next to Kevin and asked, "Celestian? What's that?"

The Champion gave him an odd look and said, "Well, a Celestian is what you humans would call an angel. So, your little friend that is running around with Prince Laharl and Etna is a Celestian. Why she is assisting them in this crime is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps she is a Fallen Angel... Anyways, what you are all doing, whether you realize it or not, and my money is on the possibility that you aren't aware of it, is you're ruining the delicate cycle of life and death by trying to keep the Prinnys from reincarnating. So, if you can, please stop these demons from—GAH!"

The demon sitting before the four started convulsing violently, arms flailing outwards, as if trying to grab something and he fell onto his back, smashing his head hard into the icy ground. The convulsions stopped and his eyes began misting over. His head was positioned in a painful looking way so that he was looking at the red moon Laharl had chosen to be their destination and with one hand outstretched, as if trying to grab the moon itself, asked, "Why master? What did I do wrong?"

Before the four could do anything, he was enveloped by a dull pink light and vanished completely, leaving not a single trace of his existence behind.

"There was nothing we could have done, he failed his purpose and his master granted his wish." Gustav said, looking at the place the demon had been mere seconds before. Xunahs and Lochit looked extremely worried and Kevin was standing up, staring straight at the cliff silhouetted by the red moon.

"I can't say that I like this 'master' very much. It seems to have very little disregard for life, or mercy for that matter. We should get going and investigate this." He looked down the path and saw Laharl, Etna, Flonne, Dyme, Tahlia and Big Sis Prinny were already on their way to the cliff and ran to catch up with them, the others close behind.

* * *

Black bolts of lightning exploded from Venxik's writhing, agonized body as it lay on the table, arms and legs flailing around as if he were having a seizure. A similar purple light that had previously come off of Venxik was now surrounding Halixat, who was having a hard time with whatever she was doing, her laboured breathing obvious from how much her chest expanded and contracted with each breath.

Both Halixat and Venxik let out an agonized scream, collapsing onto the floor and table, respectively and after a few seconds, a second purple glow appeared over Venxik's chest where his heart would be. Halixat got up weakly and gasped in horror as a hand came out of the small hole and grabbed onto the table Venxik was laying on, pulling the rest of a humanoid body enshrouded in darkness out with it.

* * *

"End of the road, Dennis. The heroes are coming to kick your ass, and even if you go back, Superior will destroy you for insubordination, and Drake will just send you back here because you're useless to him now."

The man in question, a tall, skinny man wearing wire frame glasses, a white lab coat and silver-grey hair tied up in a ponytail that was tucked in the back of his coat, turned around, face struck with horror as the feminine voice reached his ears. He backed far away from the door the tall, darkly dressed woman came in from and asked weakly, "G-Gretchen? W-What are you doing here?"

The woman leaned against the door frame with her head turned towards Dennis and said, "It was awfully stupid of you to leave your brutish bodyguard behind, Dennis. You can't do anything without someone to take control of, and these people are well beyond your abilities."

"Stop dodging my questions, woman!"

"Oh? Is someone getting angry? Well, I can't have any tantrums on my watch, no no no! I'll make it short and sweet."

She stepped further into the room, making Dennis take several steps back, looking around wildly like a trapped animal. Gretchen raised his left hand into the air and then brought it down to point it at Dennis, a fine, black cloud of soot forming around it. "I'm here to kill you, Superior's orders."

The rest of her body collapsed into the same soot that was around her finger and moved incredibly fast to meet Dennis and he let out a scream of absolute terror as the cloud enveloped him.

* * *

As the group of demons got closer to the base of the cliff, they noticed a large group of Prinnies of various colours, enough to make up an army of their own, making their way up a hill to a strange beam of light that lead straight up to the Red Moon, which seemed to be hovering just over the cliff itself. Lochit, who had taken the lead, accidentally kicked over a pile of snow, and from it, several white, glowing balls, the size of a clenched fist, floated up into the air and towards the red moon.

Flonne stopped in her tracks, as did everyone else to see the strange glowing orbs float away. Soon after they stopped, more started floating upwards from random places across the snow-covered valley. "What are those?" Flonne asked, the sight of the orbs floating up into the starlit sky was breathtaking.

Big Sis Prinny looked up at the orbs floating away mournfully and said quietly, "They are the souls of Prinnies that have atoned for their sins… Do you know the legend? That Prinnies contain the souls of sinful humans?"

Flonne looked sadly down at the pink Prinny and replied, "Yes… and that they work in both Celestia and the Netherworld to atone for those sins."

"That's right… The red moon purifies their souls so they can be reborn."

"It's absolutely heartwrenching." Xunahs said, looking up at the moon. "They've worked so hard to redeem themselves, and now they have to work hard again to get their happy ending? That just doesn't seem fair."

"Exactly, it is unfair! That's why we're dragging them back to work for _me_!" Laharl shouted angrily. "Etna, you go get them!"

"B-but Prince, didn't you hear her? They're being reborn. We'll get new Prinnies, so why don't we just--"

"I don't care! They were never given my permission to just run off! We'll drag them right back to the castle if we have to!" And with that, he ran off. Etna gave a huge sigh and chased after him, Flonne and Big Sis Prinny exchanged nervous glances and ran off after him as well, the Prinny doing surprisingly well at keeping up, considering her peg legs.

"We should go too." Kevin said. "They're not going to be safe, the sheer number of Prinnies aside, there's that person on the hill that killed one of its men from such a long distance without a second thought, are you guys with me?"

"Yes!" Tahlia shouted, pulling a dagger from its sheath. Xunahs and Dyme nodded and Lochit said, "Yeah! Of course! Just one thing though, one of the guys over there dropped something and I want to grab it."

She trotted over to a spot where the snow was all kicked up and there were strange and random icicle formations with random splatters of blood and picked up a spear buried in the snow and came back. "I wanted to bring this, the ice swords are really fragile, and since that whole fiasco with Xunahs, I've been learning how to use spears effectively with Etna."

"Well... that was nice of her." Kevin said, shocked at the fact Etna bothered helping them at all. "Anyways, let's go before we're too far behind.

* * *

The Heartless that climbed out of Venxik stood up to his full 6'3" height. He had brown hair, red eyes and lightly tanned skin. He turned around to face the Heartless he came out of and he grinned, seeing Venxik was sitting up now, looking groggy and sick to his stomach. "Why hello there, _parasite._" He said, venom dripping from each syllable he uttered. He raised his hand up and Venxik was lifted into the air. Glaring with hatred, he squeezed his hand tightly shut, making the Heartless cry out in pain and threw him down to the ground, smashing his face into the cold stone floor below.

Venxik pulled himself up onto his feet, using the wall for support. He was seeing doubles of everything and he felt extremely weak. He held out his left hand to summon Interfecit, but the sword didn't answer his call. Instead, this other Heartless walked up to him, cracking his knuckles.

"I'll teach you for hijacking a ride in me, you worthless piece of shit!" He roared, and followed through with a punch to Venxik's stomach. The Heartless crumpled under the blow and in between gasps of pain, asked "Why am I so... weak?"

Standing over top of him, the other Heartless said, "Elementary, my dear intruder, I borrowed the power you stole from so many people. Now then, sayonara. Kairi, or Ashlee, can you do the honours? I want to make sure this little bastard never takes people over again."

The two girls were reluctant to move and the Heartless sighed and turned to face them and said, "Come on. Really? Neither of you recognize me? Well, I guess it makes sense, kinda. On top of that, I did just burst out of the chest of what you four were assuming to be the Heartless of your friend."

The Invisibles surrounding the hostages and the Orcus protecting Halixat started breaking down into the darkness that made them up and like some vile fog being sucked up by a vacuum, it rushed past the Heartless and into Venxik, who pulled himself up onto his feet after he was done Cleansing Halixat's minions.

He stretched his arms and legs a bit and grinned maliciously at the other Heartless. "That's right, I'm not Kevin's Heartless." Kairi asked, "Then who are you?"

* * *

"Guys, stop!" Jan held out her arm to halt Sora and Riku and motioned to the closed door at the top of the stairs, "Did you two hear that scream? Something smells."

"Yeah… but we should go check it out." Sora said, looking up at the door. There was some movement up there that caught his attention. "Yeah, let's go."

The three ran up the flight of stairs as fast as their legs could carry them and what they found made Sora and Riku sick to their stomachs. At the opposite end of the room was a man that was lying on the ground, blood splatterd on the walls behind him and on the ground around him. What remained of his labcoat was stained with his blood as well and patches of flesh were stripped away to reveal bones.

"W-what did this?" Sora asked, stepping back, his legs trembling. Riku just shook his head slowly and was looking paler than usual. Jan got into a defensive stance and said, "Focus guys. Whatever did this is still in the room. I've seen something like this before, and if you are prepared for it, there's a chance you won't end up like our chum over there."

The sound of a Dark Corridor opening filled the room, followed by the sound of someone running into it and then its closing. The tower started shaking violently and bricks and wooden beams began falling from the ceiling above. "Looks like the tower's master is completely gone now. Time to run, guys." Jan said.

* * *

"Wait…"

A strange, cloaked demon that looked like a larger ghost with no physical form under its red cloak floated out from the beam of light of the hill and towards the group that had finally made its way to the top without incident, and only a small handful of Prinnies were left, the rest were reborn and the others were patiently waiting their turn, staring at the others with dull expressions, as if in a trance.

"Who are you?!" Laharl shouted, holding his sword ready to take down the new obstacle that was in his way.

"Take… Prinnies' souls… to red moon… No one… is allowed to interfere…" The demon said, not talking to anyone in particular. Kevin shivered a bit and stepped back. _There's something wrong with this guy…_

Laharl spat at the ground the demon was floating over and shouted, "Like I care! Those Prinnies are _mine_! They're my vassals. FOR ALL ETERNITY!"

* * *

"Are you worried?"

"…Yes, I'd be lying if I said I was not. But, I shall leave it to the one that loves him most."

* * *

More of the same ghostly figures came out from the pillar of light. These ones wore green cloaks rather than their leader's red cloak. They stayed protectively in front of the group of Prinnies that looked like they were more ready to fight now, rather than reincarnate.

Kevin summoned and readied Vortex. "I don't think they'll reason with us, guys. Get ready."

"Right." Xunahs summoned Dreggan, and Kevin, Lochit and Tahlia jumped back with surprise. "Dreggan? That's Raynx' sword!"

Xunahs glowered at the weapon and said, "Yeah. He left me with a few parting gifts. He really wanted me to be able to take care of myself. I can make illusions, do weird stuff with gravity and I can summon his sword."

"That means he thinks you're going to need them. Things are going to get rough soon…" Kevin muttered.

"Oh, and he left us some weapons and junk in my room, under my bed. Forgot to tell you guys."

"WHAT?" Lochit asked. "I could have gotten something nice and shiny and not some stupid, battered spear?"

"Yeah… heh. Sorry."

"Ooh, that pisses me off!" She took off for the nearest Shadow (the green cloaked demons) and leaped high up into the air above its head and threw the spear at the ground, where gigantic spikes made of ice exploded out from under it and it faded awaty. She landed gracefully on one of the taller spikes and slid down it to the base of the cluster to retrieve her spear. She sprung off of the spike and towards two more Shadows, thrusting the spear through both of their heads.

Kevin and the others watched in shock as she made short work of another Shadow and Xunahs whispered to his brother, "She's scary."

Tahlia shrugged her shoulders and ran off to face off against a group of Shadows with Claudia behind her, launching arrows at the Shadows that rose into the air to fire their magical attacks at their approaching enemies. Dyme stayed right where he was with Lucinda, his Blue Mage at his back, ice forming around the tip of her staff.

"Best idea is to wait here, right? If the others can take care of the other demons, we'll be perfectly fine to do nothing and just laze about." Lucinda was quick to voice her arguments to Dyme's plan. "But master, we _need_ to help them! They're our comrades, our _friends!_" "Ah, tsk tsk, not too loud, just look busy and around like you're trying to find enemies, I find that people do that before a big fight."

"But Lochit and Tahlia didn't do that."

"They're rebels that go by their own rules?"

"...Fine, I see that there is no use in asking you to pull your weight."

"You learned quicker than Xemnas did! Well, he _never_ learned, actually, but still! Congratulations!"

Kevin turned around to face Dyme and said, "If you really didn't want to do anything, you could have just said, really it's no problem with me. We dragged you off of the islands because we didn't want you to get horribly murdered or stolen-hearted." He turned to Xunahs. "Right, let's go, Xunahs. I'll take that group to the left, you take the right one."

"Sure." And the two ran off in separate directions, and Dyme chuckled. "Livin' the sweet life." Lucinda just sighed and cast Giga Ice on a Shadow that had begun to move in on the two.

* * *

Xunahs charged straight at the nearest Shadow with Dreggan held ready to swing at the demon. Just as he was close enough, he leapt off the ground and straight towards the enemy. However, he overdid his jump and flew straight over the demon's head, his feet hitting the hood that obscured its face and landed just barely on his feet some few yards away. He looked down at the sword with annoyance and muttered, "Damn thing's too light... I'm so used to the bigger swords..." He looked up at the slightly confused demon and cracked a grin, "Oh well, it's best to do my training on the field. I might as well learn the fancy stuff later." He charged up to the nearest demon, this time, not bothering to jump and sliced his sword horizontally across where its abdomen would be. It was a clean slice, making Xunahs grin and he turned to attack another Shadow that was closing in.

* * *

"Prince! Don't do anything stupid, damn it! That demon's really powerful!" Etna shouted, holding back one of the ghostly demons with a blue cloak. Flonne was assisting her by healing her and firing magic at the demon from a distance. Laharl ignored her and made yet another unsuccessful charge at the ring leader of these seemingly endless demons that kept moving out from the beam of light to deal with the invaders.

"You... must not... interfere..." The demon moaned as Laharl just barely missed it, for what felt like the umpteenth time to him. It floated up into the air; two balls of flame forming on both of its hand and it twirled around the demon prince, high above his head and launched the balls of fire at him. Laharl leapt backwards just before the two balls made impact with the ground, creating a great, fiery explosion. He looked up angrily at the demon and then raised his hand up into the air above his head, several balls of fire forming in the air around him.

"I've had enough of this stupid game. Take this! OVERLORD'S WRATH!"

* * *

Kevin jumped back from the Shadow that was flinging fire balls at him and landed on a deep patch of snow, making him fall backwards. The tall, cloaked demon closed in on its fallen prey and just as it got close enough, Kevin threw his wings open, making snow explode around him and the demon. He hopped up onto his feet, surrounded Vortex with electricity and leapt forwards, slicing cleanly through the demon with his Keyblade. As he got out of the snowy cloud, he saw three more demons readying fireballs to launch into the cloud and threw Vortex at the one on the left, tackled the one in the middle, delivering an electrically charged punch to its face and spun around mid-air to face the other demon and launched a volley of balls made of electricity at it.

* * *

"Why must you... interfere?" The red demon asked, floating away from Laharl, with its back against the beam of light. Big Sis Prinny waddled up next to Laharl and looked up at him in the eyes and said, "That's right, dood. It's not nice to interfere with Death's work... dood. It's here to guide the souls of the Prinnies to the red moon. Dood. If you truly value your vassals; if you have any love for them, then you should wish them good luck, dood."

Laharl crossed his arms and looked thoughtfully at Death and the Prinnies assembled behind him and said, "Hmph... you sound just like the Love Freak..." He sighed. "It's what's best for the Prinnies, right?"

"Yes, that's right, dood."

"Fine, I'll let them go."

The Prinny looked at Laharl, happiness shining in her usually empty eyes and asked, "So does that mean you understand, dood?"

"Well, yeah."

Big Sis Prinny bounced slightly and said in a quiet voice, "Thank goodness... that means I can leave without worry."

She turned away from the group of demons and walked up to Death and the remaining few Prinnies. This prompted Etna, Flonne, Kevin and Xunahs to step up and Flonne shouted, "Wait!" This caught the pink Prinny's attention and she turned around slowly, and silently watched Flonne, waiting for her to ask her question.

"What- What sin did you commit?" She asked. The Prinny looked away sadly, and everyone could have sworn there was a tear that rolled down her cheek as she did so. "I took my own life... and as you know, suicide is a grave sin..."

Flonne stepped forward, offering her hand for the Prinny to hold on to. "Why would you do that...?" "...To save my son's life." The Prinny said, her voice quivering.

Everyone stared in shock and then turned to face Laharl, who was shivering with his head bowed and fists clutched with his eyes squeezed shut. Xunahs and Lochit looked at him with worried expressions, as did Etna and Flonne.

"Because of my death, my son shut away his feelings... But he's changing, ever so slowly. It's all thanks to the wonderful people around him... My work here is done; the rest is up to my son and his friends. I wish you all luck." She turned around and began walking back to Death

Flonne stepped forwards, looking absolutely shocked. "So you're just going to leave him?! You won't even give him a goodbye, despite how much you love him?!" The Prinny turned around again, tears flowing freely from her eyes and she whispered, just loud enough for the others to hear, "What a cruel thing to say... Of course I want to reveal myself, to hug my son one last time. But if we are destined to part, then would it not be better to watch from afar and leave without a single word being said? He has suffered enough already... My silence is how I show my love."

Flonne looked from Laharl to Big Sis Prinny sadly and with her head bowed, said, "I'm sorry. I tried to push my idea of love onto you without considering your feelings... I'm so... so very sorry." She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, getting a comforting pat on the back from Etna, who was also in bad shape from the scene unfolding, everyone, even the Nobodies was at least water-eyed.

"Haha... Prince, you've met a wonderful person, dood." Big Sis Prinny turned around and walked towards the beam of light and said, "Prince... take care. Everyone else, please take care of him for me. Good bye..." The rest of the Prinnies turned around and their souls drifted out from their bodies, leaving piles of what looked like penguin costumes. Big Sis Prinny's soul disappeared from her body and remained floating for a second and revealed a woman with short brown hair, a kind smile and a beautiful blue dress. The Prinny's body collapsed and Laharl's mother stood there, smiling at him sadly.

Laharl snapped out of his depressed trance and gasped. Before anyone could restrain him, he ran full speed to the soul of his mother, hoping to reach it, but just before he was within range to grab her, his mother floated away into the sky, waving at them slowly.

* * *

"Love... huh..."

"What was that, Laharl?"

"Nothing Flonne, let's go back home."

_Laharl...

* * *

_

Kevin: A great darkness seeps across the Netherworld! An evil force is here to obliterate everything that stands in its way!

Xunahs: What could they be? C'mon Kevin, tell me!

Kevin: -points up at the sky- A GIANT PAIR OF BREASTS!

Xunahs: That isn't so bad, you know.

Kevin: Are you _kidding_? It's HORRIBLE!

Xunahs: Why? They're giant boobs.

Kevin: ...Because, it's ungentlemanly to stare at large breasts.

Xunahs: Then why are you making gropey gestures at the giant boobs?

Kevin: I'm not! I'm imagining... never mind.

Xunahs: What?

Kevin: You're right, I'm imagining giant breasts.

Xunahs: Heh. Knew it.

Ashlee and Lochit: _Damn, so close!_

Kevin: Next time on Kingdom Hearts: Noon, chapter nineteen: Earth's Greatest Hero Arrives!

Kevin: Be there, or be square!

Ashlee: Hey, Kevin...

Kevin: Yeah?

Lochit: We know, it's okay.

Kevin: -flustered- Know? Know about what?

Xunahs: No clue, but you guys completely derailed our next episode segment.

Kevin: Nah, you did that all on your own, Xunahs


	19. The Invasion of the Netherworld Part One

Author's Note: /list of excuses as to why I haven't updated in forever

But yeah. There's a mix of reasons. Mostly in the form of friends shoving MMOs to play down my throat. Oh, and Left 4 Dead. I love zombies as a genre, hard. Like, I don't think anything would excite me more than a zombie apocalypse. Now then! Let's hope I can actually survive long enough to kick ass and chew some bubble gum, eh? Oh, and update the fic. But damn, I'm hankering for some gum now.

I'll tell you guys the punchline right away. I worked on this chapter from like June until now, so you'll be seeing a lot of… differences in writing style and other junk along those lines.

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: Invasion of the Netherworld! Earth's Greatest Hero to the Rescue! (Part One)

*Flashback begins*

"_Ah, Jordan, or should I call you by the name you adopted after your return? Vice, was it? It's great to see you after The Blackout. Please, do sit down. You have a lot of explanations to make. For one, start with how you got that scar."_

*Flashback ends*

* * *

Kevin sat up in his bed and gripped his head in pain, feeling a sudden headache come over him. He looked around slowly; still sensitive to the slightest movements he made and saw Xunahs and Dyme sleeping on either side of him. Xunahs was resting quietly and peacefully, with his back turned from Kevin, but Dyme was thrashing about in his sleep, as if he were having some sort of nightmare. The Nobody tried to stand up to help him, but his legs were too weak to hold his weight and he collapsed back into his bed and fell back asleep, ignoring the slight plume of darkness that floated up from him.

"Come on everybody, get up! There's been some interesting activity going on up at the Stellar Graveyard, and all of us are going to check it out!" Etna shouted, standing at the doorway of the room the boys had been sleeping in (the fifty Prinnies that had lived in it previously were kicked out to make room). Kevin rolled out of bed, bumping his head on Xunahs' mattress and got up to his feet groggily. "Had a bad sleep, Princess?" Etna said, grinning at him with malice. "Sleep on your stomach again, Pettanko?" Kevin shot back.

Xunahs and Dyme, who were in the process of getting out of bed, froze in place and looked from Kevin to Etna, seeing the fury quickly build in the demon's eyes. The two wisely rolled off and under their beds and covered their heads while Kevin got up onto his feet, and slipped on a pair of armored gloves fitted with four inch long blades where his finger nails would have been. The gloves were mixed in with the various weapons Raynx had left for everyone, and he had spent a week since the event at the Red Moon training with them because the night after, he had found Vortex had become increasingly difficult to summon. At this point, it would have taken more time and effort to call the Keyblade than it would have to slip on the gloves and pummel the crap out of the enemy that was attacking him.

Etna reached to the wall beside the door and ripped one of the decorative spears off of the wall and pointed its tip at his throat and asked, "What did you call me, punk?"

Kevin got into a defensive stance and said, "Pet-tan-ko. Y'know, flat chested." He cracked a grin that had only helped to push Etna over the edge. She slammed her foot into the bed Xunahs was hiding under, knocking the mattress over and leapt at Kevin, still steadily aiming the spear for his throat. As the sharp point closed in to his exposed throat, the Nobody fell onto his back and kicked upwards as Etna's torso flew above his feet. Just before the demon made contact with one of the ceiling's rafters, a barrier formed around her and Flonne stepped into the room, frowning at the two that were fighting and cried, "Really! This is the fourth time this week! We're all living together, so you two should learn to get along better!"

"Says the Love Freak." Kevin muttered, getting onto his feet and looking down like a child getting scolded.

After Flonne and Etna left, with the latter still fuming about Kevin's comment, Xunahs got out from under his bed and walked over to Kevin and smacked him on the head. "You are an idiot, you know that? Not only was that uncalled for, but one of you could have gotten hurt. Seriously, what the hell are you thinking?"

"That you need to calm down, pretty boy." Kevin replied angrily, earning him another smack on the head from his brother. Unlike last time, the younger of the two pulled his hand back in pain and saw that the palm of his hand had been punctured by something sharp. The Nobody scratched his head a bit where Xunahs had last hit him, shifting his hair enough to reveal a horn growing on the side of his head that looked like a much shorter version of the ones Tahlia had growing under her hair since she had been cursed. The teen looked Kevin in the eyes and stepped back in shock. The Nobody's eyes had become a brighter shade of red than they were before.

"What the hell is going on?"

* * *

*Flashback begins*

"_What do you mean, sir?" Vice asked. General Dylan sat straighter in his chair, glaring at the man across the desk from him and replied, "You know damn well what I mean, soldier. After Dawn and Gard had been exposed to our troops, you all disappeared and everything went black. For what felt like seven whole years, we experienced nightmarish visions of us killing people and ending entire civilizations and all of a sudden, poof! We're back surrounding the ruins of Dawn's fortress and a few seconds later, all of you come back, looking like you had massive headaches. What's more, all of you looked different. You had a scar that disfigured half of your face, the shy and quiet Gabrielle was standing up straighter than I had ever seen her, and Jan looked like she had actually gotten back on her Ritalin!"_

"_I'm sorry sir, but that's classified information." Vice replied. He looked over to the left and out the office window and saw people working on rebuilding houses lost in the war. Apparently, there were some changed people left in surrounding cities, but they were being systematically eliminated. With Dawn gone, most of their intelligent thought had gone as well; they were like zombies that couldn't infect other individuals. He heard Dylan's breathing intensify. Vice had pissed the man off, and he did a valiant job at hiding his smug grin._

"'_CLASSIFIED'?" He roared. The man on the other side of the desk had to turn to face his superior officer now. "Listen to me, you punk, I'm the man leading this entire PLANET from the devastation it went through because Dawn decided to move in! I know she wasn't from this world, and those shadow monsters most certainly were not!"_

_Vice, his infuriatingly calm gaze not wavering, asked, "And what makes you sure the gates of Hell didn't open and let some of those little demons out to attack us? It makes about as much sense as there being worlds out there that can all support life. Let's face it; our world is the only world out there for trillions of light years that is capable of supporting life as well as it does. But this isn't a fight of science versus religion, this is me telling you that you have nothing to base your beliefs of other worlds that we can inhabit to increase our population on. Also, what if there was another one out there? That would be great. But what if there was someone or a group of someone's on that world that would laugh someone like Dawn in the face if she decided to muscle her way in? What then? Would you want to combat even one of them? Dawn single handedly took out five hundred of our thirty thousand strong army in that battle, now what if we met one of those more powerful people? I'll tell you right now, sir. Annihilation. The complete and utter end of our people, just one mass suicide."_

_Dylan, just as headstrong as Vice had remembered was unmoved by anything the man had said. It was more likely he just ignored everything altogether. "Listen, Vice. I want you to know something, if you don't tell me right now what you saw out there, I will have you and your friends arrested for treason and conspiracy to cause the genocide of our people. So I'll give you one last warning, spill your guts or we spill yours." His expression had calmed after saying that, and he was beaming proudly at Vice. He really thought he had won the argument._

_Vice stood up and pulled Caineghis from its sheath and took in a deep breath as the blade set itself ablaze. Dylan jumped back, completely caught off guard by the flames and the man stepped back, tightened his grip on the weapon and slashed at the air in front of him several times, vibrant red lines trailing behind the blade. When he had finished, he sheathed the sword and seated himself again, "Sir, would you like to get back up? I understand my position and I will confess now." "Wh-what was that?" "Just me venting some steam, I assure you. These past few days have been troublesome."_

_Dylan warily got up onto his feet and began to sit in his chair. Just as his rear made contact with the seat, the chair collapsed under his weight and he grabbed at the sturdy, oak desk in front of him to break his fall, but instead the desk collapsed as well. Buried under the rubble of his desk, the man cried out and Vice stepped onto the pile of broken wood and sliced papers, unsheathed the sword again and pointed the tip at Dylan's throat. "Let me make one thing clear, sir. Gabrielle, Kray, Anil, Jan and I haven't been sitting around, sipping tea for these past seven years. We've been training, participated in a war on a much grander scale than this scuffle with Dawn, and those hypothetical beings that could laugh Dawn out of town? Well, you're staring at one of them right now. If you dare send the military after us, we will have no choice but to defend ourselves and will not be held responsible for any casualties. Is that understood?_

*Flashback ends*

* * *

"Gordon? Gordon, where are you?" A tall, blonde woman with long, wavy hair pulled herself out of the remains of a blue and yellow spaceship. She looked around her and saw that she was on a large rock floating in space. Far below her, she could see a large sea of lava on the planet below. The Netherworld, where the Overlord was, hatching its insidious plans of universal conquest.

However, that wasn't the important thing, she was wearing nothing but a bikini and she's in space. That just makes no sense.

There was a very audible series of beeps coming from the wreckage and a rather large robot that was essentially an egg on wheels with two short, claw-like arms coming out of the front of its metal body rolled out from what was left of the spaceship. Jennifer let out a cry of delight and ran up to Thursday and hugged him tightly and said, "Oh Thursday! You're okay!"

The robot let out another series of beeps. "JENNIFER'S BODY IS WARM AND SOFT. I WILL PROTECT JENNIFER FROM THE DANGERS OF SPACE AS LONG AS I CAN FUNCTION." The girl giggled and pulled away from the robot and looked over at the spaceship and said, "I'm sorry Thursday, but we need to find Gordon first. He might be in a lot of trouble!"

The robot was silent for a moment and then suddenly shouted, "SPACESHIP CRASHED. GORDON FAILED TO ESCAPE. PROBABLY SMASHED TO ATOMS. REST IN PEACE…" Jennifer got down on her knees and the robot's eyes followed the most… outstanding feature of her figure as she did so and she asked politely, "Please Thursday, can you scan for signs of life? After all, he's Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth. He won't die so easily."

"UNDERSTOOD. ACTIVATING LIFE SCANNERS."

"Thank you Thursday."

* * *

"Christ, I've heard of jiggly boobs, but this is stupid. I mean really." Xunahs whispered. In front of the group of demons, altered humans and Nobodies stood an equal sized group of demons that looked like they were human, but had a cat-like physique and next to no clothing. "Yup, and apparently the Netherworld isn't safe from the furry fandom." Lochit said, with her head tilted slightly. "I never imagined I would see something like this in my life. I mean really, they just bounce… up and down, up and down. It's damn hypnotic."

"Hmm, I wonder if there is a male version of them." Everyone turned to face Kevin, who backed away slowly. "What? I didn't mean anything by it! I'm just curious!"

"Sexually curious, you mean." Etna replied, smirking.

"Shut up, Speed bump Chest!"

Ignoring the two's squabble, Laharl walked forwards, with his arms crossed and shouted, "You guys, out of my way! I have something to investigate up here in the Stellar Graveyard, and you're an obstacle! I'll be a benevolent Overlord this once and not attack you if you let us pass. If not, you will all be executed!"

One of the cats let out a loud roar and ran at him, jumped into the air and somersaulted in the air so that she was flying at him feet-first. Laharl's threw his arm out and stepped to the side-stepped the demon and just as she had passed, he grabbed her left arm, spun around and threw her at her sisters and as if it were part of the motion, he raised his hands above his head and several things that looked like they were miniature suns appeared around him.

"Overlord's Wrath!" He flung his arms down and the balls of fire followed the motion and slammed into the group of demons, taking out five of them.

Flonne looked at the remaining four and asked, "Laharl, these demons are called Nekomatas, right?"

"Yeah, why do you want to know?"

"I was just wondering that's all. I've never seen something like them since we dealt with Maderas."

"So, uh. Do you want to fight any?" Laharl asked. "Nope, I don't want to fight them unless it's absolutely necessary. You can, though!" The prince grinned and tightened the grip on his sword and said, "Heh, just what I was hoping you'd say. He jumped backwards into the air and he glowed with energy and shouted, "Winged Slayer!" and flew down at the group of demons, destroying the remaining four. After he pulled out of his dive, he did a loop de loop in the air and landed next to Flonne with a soft _thud_ and shouted, "Come on everyone, time to move out!" He marched off with Flonne walking beside him and Kevin and Etna being separated by Xunahs and Lochit as they tried keeping up with the other two.

* * *

Jennifer walked out from a cave with Thursday following close behind. She was exhausted from all the walking around they had been doing. She plopped down on a rock and asked, "Sense any signs of life, Thursday?"

"UNFORTUNATELY, NO TRACES OF GORDON'S BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURE." He replied, with a series of beeps that echoed around the small canyon they were in.

"I see… We have to find him. I heard at headquarters that the Netherworld is full of nasty creatures. If we're discovered… AHH! I might get molested by countless slimy tentacles until my fluids are sucked dry! Ah! What if we're swallowed whole and suffer a slow and agonizing death in the digestive juices of some giant beast? Or even worse…"

"JENNIFER, JENNIFER, PLEASE KEEP YOUR IMAGINATION UNDER CONTROL." Thursday jumped slightly and said, "LIFE SIGNALS FOUND. SIGNALS NOT CORRESPONDING WITH CAPTAIN GORDON'S BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURE. OH SHIT! RUN AWAY!" And with that, the reliable super robot took flight to the cave the two had just emerged from. Jennifer grabbed him before he could get too far, however and whispered, "Thursday, be quiet."

She heard a rock tumble down the side of one of the cliffs and turned around quickly to see a bunch of tall, thin shadows sliding along the walls of the canyon, but couldn't find their sources. She grabbed Thursday and hid behind a large boulder.

* * *

"That's weird… I could've sworn I heard the voice of a woman out here…" Laharl muttered. "Maybe it was just your imagination?" Lochit said. She looked around nervously. At the top of the cliff to her left, Xunahs had started to rot away because of Raynx. She was worried something like that could happen again, even though the odds of it were slim. And then Laharl was tacked by a tall, scantily clad blonde woman. _Well that sure beats friends nearly meeting their demise._ She thought to herself.

The woman pulled herself off of Laharl and said, "Wait! You're not a demon, you're a human child! What are you doing in the Netherworld? She looked up from Laharl and as if for the first time, she noticed everyone else for the first time and stepped back in shock and shouted, "What? So many children! Did the Overlord kidnap you? How merciless and evil! Just as expected as the vile Overlord! Did it suck your brains out through a crazy straw?" She started poking around Laharl's head and pulled away once again and put her hands on her hips and thought for a moment. And then she realized what really happened.

"It anal probed you, didn't it?" Everyone in the group froze at the thought of that and Laharl began backing away, "No! Nothing like that happened!" She frowned at him and she took a step forward. Laharl ran and she gave chase, easily gaining on the prince. "Don't worry! Big sis Jennifer will make everything better!" She tackled Laharl once again and spun him around so that he was facing her and hugged him tightly, pressing his face into her chest. Laharl let out a scream and pushed himself away, blushing furiously. "Get your sexy body away from me!"

"What? Oh…" Jennifer snapped a finger and Thursday picked up a rock and brought it over for her to sit on and sit she did. She patted her lap and motioned for Laharl to sit on it, the demon took five steps back and she sighed. "Fine. Well, you see, when girls grow up, their breasts get bigger. But when boys grow up…"

"Oh God, she's teaching Sex Ed." Etna said.

"I got that talk seven years ago." Kevin said.

"Really? I got it 1451 years ago."

Kevin looked at her in shock and asked, "Just how old are you?"

"Hmm, about 1453 years older than you."

"So 1469?"

"What? No! Aren't you seventeen?"

"Nope, sixteen. I'll be seventeen in three months, though."

"I see... Have you heard of birthday beats?"

"Yes, and I'll be long gone before I get them from you, don't worry."

"Uh, excuse me. Miss Jennifer?" The blonde woman paused her explanation of the birds and the bees and looked at Flonne. "Yes?"

"Well, you see. None of us are really human children. I'm Flonne, an Angel Trainee, Etna is a demon, and Kevin, Lochit, Dyme and Tahlia," She pointed at each of them as she said their names, "are humans cursed to turn into demons by an Overlord of another Netherworld. And Laharl or the 'cute little boy' is the Overlord of this Netherworld. The only human being here is Xunahs, and he's probably had the weirdest stuff happen to him so far."

Jennifer jumped up and fell over Thursday and cried out, "This is outrageous! Headquarters told us the Overlord was an evil villain that was supposed to destroy Earth! Thursday, what's going on?"

"NOW CALCULATING… BEEP BLIP DONE. THE RESULTS ARE: HEADQUARTERS IS FULL OF LIARS."

Jennifer did a double take, looking at Thursday and then the demons (and human) assembled before her. "So you mean we've been on a wild goose chase?" And suddenly, something clicked in her mind and she said, "Excuse me? Harlie?"

Laharl looked shocked and appalled at the name he had been given, and Lochit flashed Jennifer a thumbs up.

"My name's not Harlie. It's Laharl."

"Aww… but Harlie is so much cuter."

"Yeah, whatever. What did you want to ask?"

"Well, we lost a friend. Captain Gordon, a tall, brilliantly dressed man that oozes confidence and heroism. We came here to slay the evil that threatens Earth. We were told it was you, the Overlord, but HQ was wrong. We got separated when our ship crashed, and we have no way to get home, but we need to stay together, so can you take us to him?"

"Hmhmhm… Very interesting!"

"So will you?"

"Yes! But under the following conditions: One, you do not teach me Sex Ed. Two, you do not call me 'Harlie'. Three, and the most important of all, do not have your sexy body within a three foot radius of me at any time!"

Lochit quirked an eyebrow and asked, "What? Only a yard? Seriously, _Harlie_. I thought the sight of them made you queasy… maybe you're growing up in more ways than one?"

"Sh-shut up!"

* * *

*Flashback begins (last one, I swear)*

_Gabrielle's head snapped up upon hearing the slamming of the front door of the house they had taken refuge in after returning to their world._

"_We've overstayed our welcome."_

_Gabrielle got up from the sofa. Jan, Anil and Kray, who were also sitting with her, watching news reports on the rest of the world's status turned to face Vice as well._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Well. Where should I begin? The most upstanding member of our society decided that he is going to let the power go to his head. He and a few of his chums pieced together that a lot more than a worldwide blackout happened and well, if we stay here for much longer, he'll be sending the military after us. We can't have unnecessary conflict when the world is in so much trouble already." He replied, his fists clenched. Dart came out of the kitchen and clamped a hand on his shoulder and shook him slightly. "So, good leader of ours, what do we do now?"_

"_Well, we leave the world. We still need to help those Nobodies take care of Venxik, and this Superior guy. He flew perfectly concealed under the radar of Organization XIII up until the Organization dissolved. We as the Leaders had no knowledge of his existence until he started making more public moves after Kevin lost his heart. We don't know who he is, what his goals are and where he stands in this conflict. All we know is what he's capable of, and what he's capable of is creating fake Keyblades that remove the hearts from the Heartless and is able to seal said hearts before they can reunite with Kingdom Hearts. On top of that, he's only been targeting the hearts of Kevin and his friends. After Xemnas, I don't trust anyone that is so keen on collecting hearts. So, we're going to investigate him and find out what his true motives are. It'll be harder now that we aren't Nobodies and we don't the same powers we had before we regained our hearts, but we can't give up."_

"_Good point." Jan said, looking out the window, as if expecting to see the army marching to their house. "Some of the things that happened were just too… good to be coincidence. The most glaring being that this Kevin kid is Larxene's sibling. There was nothing in our files about Larxene living on the Islands before she lost her heart, and Kevin is an only child. And yet, this phantom sister is still real to him and is important to him. But why would that happen? And why make Larxene his sister? Why not just make up some random person?"_

"_I don't know, but you're right. Things do smell fishy. So what do we do? How do we get off this world to help out?" Kray asked._

"_Gard's bunker. He came here with Dawn. He must have used some form of transportation to get here. It's guarded by the military, but we should be able to get in. We're kind of famous."_

"_Do you really think he'll have anything down there, Anil? I mean come on. It's been gutted out. It's nothing more than an underground concrete box." Dart said._

"_A heavily guarded underground concrete box, Dart. They found something there, and they don't want anyone to find it. It may have very well been what they used to transport themselves to our world. All we need to do is find it, and we can get out of here."_

"_So, let me get this straight." Vice said. "We need to go to this heavily guarded bunker, get in, with odds being likely that the military has been ordered to be wary of us, to steal a possibly not real spaceship that, if real, is probably bugged to tip Dylan off about our escape. Right?"_

"_Yes. That's everything." Anil replied._

_Vice grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me."_

*End flashback*

* * *

"Wow, look at that statue! It's freaking huge!"

Kevin looked at the statue and then at Lochit and said, "Huge? It's eight feet tall at the most. That's stupidly short, like you."

"Eh, well at least my assessment of the statue wasn't poorly delivered, unlike your poor excuse for an insult."

"Oh yeah? Well then…" He was cut off before he could say anything, as Xunahs grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him to the ground. Before Kevin could get back up, his brother planted his foot on his chest, pinning him to the ground and said, "You need to stop this right now, okay? Ever since you woke up, you've been needlessly picking fights with anything that so much as look at you funny and even then they're only looking at you funny because you're acting a douche, which is completely unlike you. I don't care if the curse is causing it either, because as far as things go, the curse is a shitty excuse to act like this to everyone, and if you keep on doing it, I'll punch you out and give you a special medicine that will keep you knocked out until we can get the curse removed."

"And what if we don't get the curse lifted?"

"Then I guess you won't be waking up."

"Well then, I guess I'll be swearing vengeance on your next of kin when the 'medicine' wears off, won't I?"

"You don't _have_ a heart, you moron! You don't feel the need to have revenge!"

"Then I shouldn't be feeling the need to be 'needlessly picking fights with anything that looks at me funny', hmm?"

Tahlia finally decided to interrupt the two and shouted, "Guys, your male bonding is sweet and all, but that 'statue' is attacking us, right now!" Kevin and Xunahs looked over to where the statue was, and it had indeed come to life and started assaulting the group.

The Nobody groaned slightly and nudged at Xunahs' calf with his hand, and the teen got off. Kevin got up on his feet and said, "I'm sorry about what happened. I'll try to keep myself under control. If we are to take care of the curses on me, Lochit, Tahlia and Dyme, we're going to have to be all there and not insane and angry."

"So, this is you and not the angry, demon Kevin?"

"Yup. But, I wonder why the curse has advanced so much for me? Nobody else is much different. Dyme is just as lazy as he was when he joined us, Tahlia is a bit bitchy, but she's still pretty normal, Lochit is no different in the way she acts… so why am I the most different?"

"Maybe it's because we're hanging around so much darkness here, and around two extremely powerful sources of darkness, too. Laharl is the Overlord, and Etna is a very powerful demon… so, who knows? But, let's go help them out. Can you summon Vortex?"

Kevin held out his hand to try to summon the Keyblade and nothing appeared, there wasn't even a slight spark of light that would indicate the Keyblade reacting to his call. "It must be the curse…" He tightened the gloves Raynx had given him and he said, "Whatever. Let's go."

Xunahs summoned Dreggan and said, "After you."

"Oh, well if you insist." Kevin sprinted for the demon and jumped high into the air when he got close enough. He formed several balls of lightning around him and launched them at the demon below. And then, they disappeared. The Nobody spread his wings open to halt his descent and saw the demon lash out at Laharl with a blade made of lightning.

The demon turned its head up to look at Kevin and somehow launched itself up into the air at him. It definitely didn't look like it could jump twenty feet into the air. As it got closer to the Nobody, it raised its hand above its head, and electricity exploded across the whole body of the demon. Before the teen even got a chance to react, the arm came swinging down across his chest, knocking the wind from his body and he was sent hurtling to the ground, and just before he hit the ground, he twisted around so he was facing downwards and blasted the ground just a few feet from him a huge ball of air that sent him flying back up into the air. With a few powerful strokes of his wings, he righted his course and stared at the demon as it descended back to the ground.

"Well, I'm pretty much useless against that thing"

"So you're just going to give up?" Kevin jumped at hearing the voice; he could've sworn he didn't see anyone when he landed on the rock after escaping the demon's attacks. He looked down and noticed he was standing on the glass dome that was Thursday's head, and just below him and the robot was Jennifer, who was doing some work on said robot.

"Well, yeah. I guess I am." He replied, trying to right his balance after the shock of finding himself next to Jennifer. "So, uh. Might I ask what you're doing back here?"

"Getting Thursday ready."

"Ready? For what?"

"Well, if you don't mind hopping off, I'll show you."

Kevin did as Jennifer asked and got off of Thursday's head, and just as she closed the robot's back hatch, the ground around them shook violently, throwing the three off their feet. Kevin was the first to recover and turned around to see a large, smoking crater with all of the other combatants standing outside it.

"Oh phooey. I wanted to get Thursday to absorb the electrical field surrounding the demon to fuel his Robozooka. I did research on some of the demons in the Netherworld, that one that just blew up is called a Galactic Demon. It's a demon that uses electricity in its attacks and sucks up any electricity used against it to fuel up its own attacks. I guess your attack overloaded it and it self-destructed." Jennifer said, now standing up. She was trying to help Thursday get back up as well. For a super robot, he sure was high maintenance.

"I see…"

* * *

The room Gabrielle was sitting in was absolutely quiet, save for the whirring noise the portal Vice and Kray had gone through to collect Kevin and his friends from the past. The Overlord that had sent them back in time was taken care of, and the moment they get pulled back, he would take care of their curse. Of course, said Overlord just had to be a lecherous frog, and would not stop trying to hit on Gabrielle. Almost every time he did, he got a ball of lightning to the face. Did that deter him? Nope, he figured it was tough love.

"I swear to God, the moment I get those guys back, I'm going to turn you into a purse, or something, say you were held by some sparklepire and throw you into a crowd of hormonally charged teenage girls and cackle as your mutilation ensues."

"Are you two having fun?" Gabrielle's head tilted up at the sound of woman's voice. She looked around the room, trying to find the source of the voice, but it just looked really smoky for some reason. Then she realized what was happening and got up onto her feet.

The smoke in the room whirled around, flinging loose objects off of shelves. Just as suddenly it began, it stopped, and all of the small, black-grey particles flew into one point in the room, becoming a black cloud that was impossible to see through. A slender leg with a fair skin tone moved out from the cloud with the rest of the woman it belonged to, and the black dress she was wearing, behind it.

"Who are you?" Gabrielle got up onto her feet and looked at the woman. A black curtain of hair was obscuring half of her face, only revealing one of her two brown eyes. "Who am I?" She asked, "I'm none other than Gretchen, third in command of Superior's Dark Court and the strongest sorceress at his disposal." The black cloud behind her shrank further until it became a silver dagger which floated softly into the palm of her hand. "He sees you, Gabrielle as being a problem to his cause and wants you taken care of. Since Reina is off chasing his little pet project and he's running around God knows where, it's my job to take this dagger, plunge it into your heart, and keep you from pulling your friends back to the present. Any questions?"

"Ah, yes Madame, I have a question. Why is a human working in the Netherworld's Judicial System?"

"What?"

"The Dark Court is the name of a place in the Item World that gives felonies to demons for their various devious acts that are worthy of praise, I have one myself, oh-hoh!"

"…I'm going to have to talk to that punk about how he names things; but that can wait. For now, I'll be killing Gabrielle." She twirled the dagger deftly between her index and middle fingers and then threw it into the ground with all of her might. White chains made out of energy shot out from the ground, binding Gabriel's arms and legs in place. "And with these simple binding spells in place, you won't be able to fight back as I come in to kill you."

Even though the distance between the two sorceresses was large, Gretchen moved swiftly and elegantly to her victim in a fraction of how long it would take a normal person to cross the gap and a new dagger appeared in her right hand. She crouched in front of Gabrielle and pointed the dagger at her throat. She looked at the weapon thoughtfully and tightened her grip, causing darkness to envelop the blade. She waved the blade in front of her captive's face a bit and said, "You know who this is, don't you? If I remember correctly, she gave you guys a bit of a hard time, nearly killing two of you in a single swing of whatever weapon she was lugging around at the time." She stood back up and turned to face the large, silvery portal Vice and Kray had gone through to get to where Kevin and his friends were and she held her hand in front of it, and waved it slightly. The textures of the portal shifted slightly and she smiled. She pulled her hand back and threw the dagger into the portal. There was a muffled cry of shock on the other side, and the textures of the portal went back to normal.

"What did you do?" Gabrielle asked, trying to pull at the chains that were binding her in place. Without turning to face her captive, Gretchen said, "I sent an old enemy of yours back in time as a present to assist a foolish old man against your friends, who are meddling with the flow of time."

"Uhm, Madame? I'm sorry to tell you this, but zese people you speak of aren't meddling with time at all."

The woman spun around to glower at Tink, whose small, white body was huddled up against a bookshelf, whose contents were long since scattered around the room. "What did you just say to me, you perverted toad?"

"Frog actually, but zat is not important right now. The so-called 'meddling' in time has already occurred. Gabrielle's friends were already pre-destined to go back in time and do whatever eet is that they're doing. Time isn't what rules the universe, eet's destiny. Time travel is an art that isn't that uncommon for more powerful Overlords to understand, and there have been several instances of time travel that have had no adverse side effects on the universe at large. All zat happens is zat people go back in time, and come back to the present stronger or more knowledgeable than before. In fact, eet is a recommended form of training, or disposing of enemies, but only if you're sure they won't survive being sent back to whatever desolate time period they were put in."

The two women were in shock. "That is the smartest thing I've heard from that pest since I had him locked up." Gabrielle said, gaping at the demon frog in awe. "Now then." Tink's small, black wings started flapping slightly as he got himself up and he lifted off from the ground. "I will make a deal with you, Gabrielle. I will defeat this sorceress for you and break your binding spell if you promise to reverse the curse put on me that made me a frog."

"Nothing perverted?"

"Non, non. Just a simple incantation."

"Alright, deal."

"Right then. Miss Gretchen, Best Sorceress of the Dark Court! Show me, Overlord Tink what you can do!" There was a small flash of light, and Tink's normally blue-white skin tone turned blood red and a plank of wood with a nail sticking out of it was in his right... hand? Paw? Grabbing appendage. He flew through the air, flying at blinding speeds that gave him the edge against Overlord Zenon in the battle that ultimately gave the frog his title, and tackled the back of Gretchen's knee at full speed, causing her to fall forwards. The Overlord bounced off of his opponent's leg and onto the wall. He gripped the bat with both hands and sprang off the wall and came flying for Gretchen, crying shrilly, "DIE!"

Just as the frog neared her head, Gretchen spun around and grabbed the bat and yanked it out of Tink's weak grasp, threw it across the room and threw the demon to the ground. She stomped on his back, pinning him to the ground, and chains flew out from the floor surrounding the frog and wrapped around whatever parts of his body weren't already being crushed by Gretchen's foot.

She turned back to face Gabrielle, saying, "Now that the little distraction is gone…" She stared where Gabrielle was supposed to be bound in place, and only saw a pile of chains that has been broken out of. The woman called back her dagger and looked around the room. "Where did you go, Gabrielle? I just wanted to kill you for my boss."

"Gretchen Joule: Cutthroat business woman that gets her way in the world of the working man. If she doesn't, she obtains her desired items through underhanded tricks and treachery. In fact…"

"Where are you? How do you know these things?"

"… _In fact_, she has been known to have murdered people that have been keeping money or precious objects from her, including people such as her parents or late husband. The darkness in her heart and the overwhelming will behind her desire to become the richest and strongest woman in the world has been of much interest to us. However, as we were watching her on that fateful day her heart was robbed from her, both Gretchen's Nobody and Heartless were nowhere to be found. At this point, we became suspicious of another force at work alongside Organization XIII, but since then, nothing ever happened. It wasn't until a week later that Larxene was found wandering the decimated streets of Hollow Bastion… and then it continues on to Larxene's report."

Gretchen stepped back a few feet, almost tripping over Tink in the process. "How do you know about all that?" She asked.

There was a light giggle that seemed to come from all corners of the room at the same time. "A big part of Organization XIII was recon, and the strength of your heart really appealed to us. In fact, I was assigned to watch you and report to Xemnas once you lost your heart. But I digress, look behind you." Gretchen spun around and saw a single, pink, transparent cube floating in front of her, spinning lazily. She heard footsteps from where she was facing before and spun back around, and saw Gabrielle, who was grinning. "Oh, bad idea."

More cubes appeared around Gretchen, effectively trapping her in one large box in which she had no room to move. "In Organization XIII, we Nobodys that were lower in rank than the human-shaped members fought to make sure we won with as little casualty as possible, even if that meant using tricks to trip up our opponents. Now then, Gretchen." She held her right hand out, "Disappear." She clenched her hand into a fist and the cubes surrounding the woman flattened so much so that they were like blades made of energy and sped towards and through Gretchen, colliding with one another inside the woman and then they exploded violently leaving nothing but a swirling mass of dust behind.

Gabrielle looked at Tink, saw the chains weren't weakening even slightly and sighed. "Goodness, Gretch. You sure do not know when to quit." She held her hand out and three cubes materialized around it, and combined to create a spear made out of the same, pinkish material.

"That transformation of yours is using up a lot of energy, isn't it? I can actually feel the leftover magic falling around me like dust in an attic. So, are you going to stop killing yourself, or make yourself physical so you can attack?"

She smirked as the smoke that was Gretchen compressed back into her humanoid form and said, "Thank you."

"Oh, it's just fine." Chains flew out from the ground again and bound Gabrielle in place. "Before I kill you, Gabrielle, I want to give you a message that you can give to that boy you're trying to pull back into our time: Larxene isn't his sister. That particular part of her history is a fabrication of Kevin's memories made by Superior. Why did he do this? I don't know, perhaps to give her 'death', on top of his father's death some more darkness in his heart to speed up Venxik's revival. Why would he want Venxik running around? Beats me. Anyways, you are going to die now, please let Kevin know what I've told you when you meet up in Hell."

Gabrielle laughed and stood up, the chains holding her down disintegrating as she did so. "Thank you for telling me that, Gretchen. This solves one mystery, and gives us something to tell Kevin to make storming your boss' hideout, even with the Larxene from an alternate reality acting as one of his pawns."

Gretchen glowered at Gabrielle and began to lunge forward, when the woman raised her hand into the air and shouted, "STOPGA!" Everything in the room stopped moving, and some of the magic leftover from Gretchen's spells was visible in the air. Gabrielle grabbed the spear she had dropped and held it tightly, focusing on the leftover magic in the room. It flowed to the tip of the spear, which began pulsating brightly until the lustre forced Gabrielle to turn her head away. "Now then, Gretchen, it's over." The ball of energy vibrated slightly as time began returning to normal and Gretchen saw what was forming in front of her.

Gabrielle thrust the spear into the woman's abdomen, the ball of energy opening a hole in her stomach and chest. The sorceress gave the spear a twist and shouted, "RAGNAROK!" The ball exploded, further opening the hole in Gretchen and beams of translucent, pink light flew out around the room, striking the woman impaled on the spear at random until they were all gone.

The spear in the woman's hands disappeared and Gretchen fell face-first onto the paved ground below her, her head at Gabrielle's feet. The chains binding Tink vanished, signifying Gretchen's defeat.

* * *

Laharl walked past a large mountain of rubble that had been piled up by local demons to keep handy for repairs to their homes, when Jennifer, who was walking exactly three feet away from said Overlord. Tahlia, who was carrying a worn out Dyme, tripped and the cursed human at the back of Thursday's head. The robot in question started beeping and saying random profanities for a few moments and then stopped. Its beeps went back to their steady rhythm and then Thursday said, "BIOLOGICAL SIGNS DETECTED… IT IS CAPTAIN GORDON."

Jennifer jumped for joy, and rushed past Laharl, breaching the agreed six feet in diameter personal bubble, and hugged the robot."Gordon's nearby?" She let go and looked around, "Gordon? Oh Gooordon, where are you?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Right here, Jennifer!" Everybody present looked up to the mountain of rubble they had just walked by and saw a man in a blue space suit standing at the stop, hands on his hips triumphantly and the grin of a true hero plastered on his face.

He jumped off of the pile and in between Jennifer and Laharl and asked, "Jennifer? Are you all right? Did these demons do anything to you?"

All of the demons present (Xunahs included) looked dumbfounded by this supposed hero's attire and Lochit poked Xunahs in the side, "Hey. You know what surprises me?"

"What?"

"The fact that Thursday had found Gordon after he got a good smack on the back of the head."

"Hmm… now that you mention it…"

"Wait a sec, _that's_ the hero?" Laharl asked. Flonne looked at the man with amazement and shouted, "He's so cool!" Etna looked at the angel trainee oddly and said, "You sure do have a wide strike zone there, Flonne."

"Jennifer, are you okay?" Gordon asked once again. He started slightly, noticing the youths of varying ages standing around him and asked, "Who are these children?"

"Child?" Laharl asked indignantly, ignoring the warning motions Kevin made. "I'm no child, I'm the Overlord!" Gordon gasped and Kevin sighed. "The Overlord? So all of you must be his henchmen!"

Upon further inspection of the Overlord, Gordon laughed out loud. "There's no way _you_ could be the Overlord, kid! You haven't even reached puberty yet!" A bolt of white-blue lightning shot down from the sky, narrowly hitting Gordon, who had jumped out of the way in the nick of time.

"Hey! No fair Overlord! I see such cowardly tactics aren't below you!"

Laharl shifted his grip on his sword and said, "So you finally acknowledge me, huh?"

"Yes!" Gordon shouted, "And I will stop you and your ambitions of taking over Earth!"

Laharl's shoulders drooped and he looked at the hero with shock. "Wait, what? Take over Earth? Why the hell would I take over that dump? You humans are doing a good enough job of ruining it by yourselves."

Gordon looked as if Laharl had just slapped him across the face with a leather glove and shouted, "WHAT? We're ruining Earth? We have several different kinds of automated cleaning systems, most of which were designed after Thursday. They effortlessly keep our streets and homes clean of any and all types of dirt and grime!"

Lochit looked from Gordon and to Thursday and back, "Really? That little clunker doesn't seem too reliable."

"Silence, you demon! You're just as vile as the Overlord for insulting our greatest piece of technology to date!"

"Really? Sliced bread is seeming a lot more impressive..." Before Lochit could finish her comeback, and Gordon could counter once again, Flonne stepped in and said, "Please Mister Gordon, just stop, we're not going to..."

"Shut up villainess!" Flonne stumbled back in shock and cried, "What? _Villainess_? I'm an angel! We aren't the bad guys!" She turned to Laharl, her eyes burning with an unseen flame "Laharl! This rude stranger isn't a hero, nor is he a defender of anything! Let's kick his sorry butt!"

Etna just sighed a bit and shrugged her shoulders. "That didn't take long." She said with a slight chuckle.

Laharl turned to Flonne and said, "We are in agreement, Flonne." He turned to Gordon. "Listen up, Defender of Earth! If you can beat me, I'll leave Earth alone and promise never to invade it. However, if I win, you will be my vassal for all eternity!"

Gordon took a step back and drew a gun from the holster attached to his belt. "Tch, you have yourself a deal, Overlord. I, CAPTAIN GORDON, THIRTY-SEVENTH DEFENDER OF EARTH WILL STOP YOUR EVIL SCHEMES DEAD IN THEIR TRACKS!"

* * *

Kevin: Ahh... this is the life.

Xunahs: I know, right? Just lazing around in this pool, day in and day out. I just can't believe how much better your tan is than mine. I look pale as hell.

Lochit: _Your_ tan? Compared to you two, I'm a snow woman!

Tom: Heh. Maybe things would be different if you didn't have ice powers.

Lochit: How does that have anything to do with anything?

Venxik: I dunno, but damn does sleeping in the sun ever feel good. No wonder cats do it so much.

Superior: Ah, the summer... when I destroy everything, I'll make sure I keep the summer completely intact so I can enjoy it for all eternity.

Tahlia: GUYS! GUYS! BAD NEWS!

Kevin: Hmm?

Tahlia: Vacation's over now, we have to go back to dealing with regaining our hearts and killing the bad guys. *points at Venxik and Superior*

Xunahs: Wait, do you mean...?

Lochit: *sits up and takes off her sunglasses* Did that lazy bastard finally make an update?

Tahlia: YES!

Kevin: Fuck... where were we again?

Tom: I think you were just about to have some climactic battle with some clown or something.

Kevin: Clown zombie?

Tom: Sure. I'm out next chapter, so I'll be resting s'more.

Ashlee: *walks up behind Tahlia and grabs the script* Shall I do the honours?

Tahlia: Sure.

Ashlee: Erhem! Next time on Kingdom Hearts: Noon, The overly long title pertaining to the Netherworld's peril part two!

Kevin: That was longer than the actual chapter title.

Ashlee: Bite me.

Tom: Actually, it wasn't.

* * *

Author's Note: Okay then! Let's see if I can keep up this updating thing.


	20. The Invasion of the Netherworld Part Two

Author's Note: WELL! Chapter twenty. It took me what, a year and a half to get it (Noon) started, but hey. I imagine there'll be another month's worth of waiting after I conclude this sentence for the chapter itself to be actually released... A month? Wow, I'm cutting myself some major slack.

Chapter Twenty: Invasion of the Netherworld! Earth's Greatest Hero to the Rescue! (Part two)

Before anyone in the room could react, Venxik sprung at Kevin's Heartless and grabbed his arm. "Don't worry," he said, grinning widely to show his pointed teeth. "it'll be over soon." He spun around and flung the Heartless at the wall. He dropped to his feet, turned to Kairi, and said, "Who am I, you ask? Why, I'm exactly what this guy just said I am! A parasite, a being of the darkness that preys off of the darkness of others like me so I can get stronger. Thanks to _those two_," He pointed at Somaxth and Leashex, "my memories of who I was are returning, I am becoming my own person once again, and without the heart of some wishy-washy kid to tell me to stop what I'm doing, I can _really_ cut loose now!" He summoned Interfecit and said, "And this guy, the embodiment of Kevin's darkness, is going to get obliterated, and when his heart goes bye-bye, I'm going to crush it myself, as a final parting gift."

"Like hell I'll let you get close enough to him to do that!" A ball of fire flew for Venxik's head, the Heartless ducked under the projectile, just barely avoiding it. He turned to face Ashlee. "Oh? So the farm girl is going to stand up to me? Aren't you supposed to be a Nobody? A being that couldn't give two shits about right or wrong? Don't you just want to get out of here and never look back?"

Glaring at Venxik, Ashlee got Corona ready for attack. "Do I want to get out of here? Nope, I don't _want_ anything. But I still need a purpose, otherwise I can't exist."

"And that purpose is...?"

"To destroy you, Superior, and to feel the warmth of my friends love and kindness once again!"

Venxik grinned at her. "I see, so you're willing to throw away what little life you have left, just for such a small and pointless dream?"

"That sounds about right."

Venxik's eyes widened, her voice was coming from behind him, and there was an intense heat behind his back. "I didn't spend my little break after beating down Raynx doing nothing, you know. Without the ability to feel bored, it's stupidly easy to learn and better yourself." She slashed at the Heartless' back with Corona, the blade ablaze with a pale blue flame. He stumbled forwards and spun around, hissing angrily at his assailant.

Ashlee stepped back; she could've sworn she saw Venxik's eye colour change from red to gold and back again. As far as she was concerned, that wasn't normal. He let out a loud sigh and shook his head, he stood straight up and said, "That's pretty interesting, to be able to move so fast. Maybe you'll be worth fighting after all." He held his hands out and darkness seemed to fly up from the floor they were all standing on and into them. When he stopped absorbing the darkness, the floor shifted beneath them and everyone, except for Venxik lost their footing. Ashlee closed her eyes as she fell forwards to the ground and suddenly stopped. She opened her eyes and looked around her, placed her hands on the floor and pushed herself back onto her feet. She clapped her hands together and said, "Not too bad, it took me three seconds to freeze time properly that time." She looked around the room; everyone was frozen perfectly in place as if she were inside a portrait. Kairi's rear was inches above the ground, Leashex had grabbed on to Somaxth for support, and Halixat's hands were digging into the table she was standing behind, her face a mix of shock and fury. Kevin's Heartless was gone, though.

Ashlee paused her scanning of the room. That wasn't good, if Kevin's Heartless disappeared... but before her train of thought could finish, motion started to return to the occupants of the room, thinking quickly, Ashlee opened a Corridor to the sandlot in Twilight Town underneath Kairi and just as time went back to full speed, Ashlee ran up to Kairi, pushed her into the Corridor and sealed it off. She returned to her original position, albeit standing up and released the spell, returning time to normal completely. _Ten seconds this time, I'll have to work harder once I get out of here._

"Where did the princess go?" Halixat asked, she glared furiously at Leashex and Somaxth and shrieked, "Tell me damn it!"

Leashex stared coldly at her and said, "If I had any idea what just happened, do you think I'd tell you?"

"Heh, don't get your panties in a knot, I know exactly what happened." Venxik said, smiling at Ashlee, "You can stop time, can't you?"

Ashlee backed away a few steps. _Damn, I knew I was cutting it close there, I should've just lied on the ground after I unfroze time... fuck._ "Yes. I can."

"And why didn't you use that power sooner, to escape when you had the chance, or when Leashex captured you?" He asked, stepping closer, staring at her as if to find an answer in the way she stood. "Because when she attacked me, she had me completely sealed off from the outside world, there was no way for me to escape, so I let her capture me without struggling. When I was imprisoned, I wasn't quite confident enough in my ability to use it to break out, the only reason I used it to get Kairi out was because it was getting too dangerous for her. If she dies because you suck up the floor below us and she falls to her death, there's no going back. Because of a letter I got, though, I have a theory about Nobodies dying, so I'm not too worried about that."

"Oh? A theory, you say? Would you mind sharing the theory with us?" Venxik asked. Ashlee grinned in response and said, "Hell no." A pale blue flame formed once again around Corona and she ran straight at Venxik, jumped to the side as a ball of dark energy was thrown at her and returned fire with several smaller balls of flame.

Before the Heartless could react, the balls of fire had him encircled. They spun around faster and faster until they seemed to be a ring of pale blue light surrounding his chest and arms. It closed in on him, just as quickly as it had formed, binding his arms to his chest.

Without slowing down even a bit, Ashlee continued running at him, her Keyblade blazing brilliantly, as if voicing its wielders intent to kill. Just when Corona was inches away from Venxik's exposed throat, a hand firmly grasped her forearm and she heard Kevin's voice from behind her say, "That's enough."

* * *

"I will bring you to justice for your crimes, Overlord! GOOORDOOON SPAAAAARK!" Captain Gordon, who was just backing away the swings of Laharl's large sword that was big enough to make any giant sword-toting manga character's face go green with envy, suddenly charged the Overlord, seeing an open spot in his opponent's otherwise flawless technique and punched him hard in the ribs. Laharl gasped in pain and doubled over and Earth's hero did a roll to Laharl's left side and kicked him hard there, elbow smashed him in the back, kicked him in the right side and held up his brutal assault for two more "cycles" as he would later call them and Laharl fell to the ground, barely conscious.

Gordon let out a triumphant laugh and put a foot on the demon's back, pushing his chest further into the loose ground and said, "You did a good job of damaging Thursday, but you'll never beat me! I have won, now you'll leave me and my planet in peace!" Laharl laughed weakly and asked, "You won? Who said you won? I never said, 'I give up!' I'm just taking a break while my vassals handle things for me! Get 'im guys!"

Gordon turned around just in time to see Etna thrust her spear at him, and had just barely enough time to avoid the fatal attack. Flonne went to Laharl and cast a Giga Heal spell, completely recovering most of his injuries She tried to help him to his feet, but he refused her help. "Overlord!" Gordon shouted angrily as he danced around Etna's assault. "This is playing dirty!" Laharl laughed louder, more confidently now that it didn't hurt to breathe and said, "We're _demons_ you moron! We're not supposed to play fair!"

Etna, seeing Gordon was distracted, grinned slightly and swept her spear at his legs, knocking him off balance and on his rear. She raised her free hands into the air and shouted "Prinny Raid!" and flung her arms down, pointing at Gordon. She jumped a few feet back as the first wave of Prinnies fell from the sky, their sharp, pale yellow beaks all pointed at the downed Defender of Earth.

* * *

"Hey, Vice. Did you hear that?" Kray had stopped in his tracks, upon hearing a series of loud explosions in the distance. "Indeed."

"Think it's them?"

"There's only one way to find out."

They continued their trek through the Stellar Graveyard towards the source of the commotion.

However, Vice saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. He motioned for Kray to stop and pointed to the rock he saw the thing dart behind and drew Caineghis from its sheath. He inched slowly towards the rock and a man wearing what could only be described as an old fashioned diving suit rolled out from behind the rock, holding a futuristic looking gun and had its barrel aimed at Vice's forehead. "D-don't move, demon!"

Vice took a step forward and the man's grip on the trigger tightened, ready to pull back should his target make another move. Sadly for him, he didn't see Vice's next movement, his gun had been knocked from his hand by a powerful kick. The man, while afraid did have enough training to recognize the threat of his opponent and moved to grab his knife from the sheath strapped around his waist, but before he could, Vice had elbowed him through the face plate on his helmet and crushed his nose. The man went limp and Vice withdrew his elbow, the fabric of his shirt around his elbow was torn by the shards of glass and reddened by both his and the soldier's blood.

Without so much as a second glance at the unconscious enemy, he turned towards the fighting between Kevin and whoever he was up against and ran in that direction once again. Kray kept up, not saying a word about his partner's brutality towards the soldier of the Earth, but he did have a question. "Is it going to happen soon?"

Not breaking pace, Vice simply replied with, "Yes."

* * *

"For Heaven's sake! You could have _killed_ me!" Gordon had rolled out of the way of the Prinnies that had fallen from the sky and was now standing straight up, albeit tired, and looking like he was going to collapse any second. "As if. If I killed you, you'd be damaged goods, and I'd never hear the end of it from Laharl if I killed his new vassal."

"WHAAAAAAAAT? NEW VASSAL?" Gordon was appalled at what he had just been called by the flat chested demon. Etna's eyebrow twitched slightly with anger.

"Well buddy, you have 1 HP left, do you think you can risk it against a clearly superior opponent?"

"I am a hero! A Defender of Earth! My mission is to keep scum like you off of it! I will _never_ give up! Even if it means losing my LIFE!" He ran at Etna, much the same as he had done before unleashing Gordon Spark on Laharl. Unlike before, he was ready to collapse, and against an opponent with full energy. Needless to say, Etna easily countered it and took off that last remaining hit point by kicking him hard where it counts. It's very possible he went into negative HP as a result, actually.

Gordon collapsed, and Jennifer, took a break from repairing Thursday to dramatically scream "GORDON!" before working on Thursday again. She already knew what the three had gotten in to, and now it was time to start making the best of it. Besides, the Angel Trainee, Flonne was already on her way to heal Gordon with her Celestial magic.

"You don't seem to be too bothered by your hero losing, Ms. Jennifer." The woman stopped her repairs again to turn around and face the person talking to her, it was Kevin, with an oddly dressed demon that seemed to be cosplaying a super hero with a Prinny motif, a young girl wearing a dress that seemed to be an inversion of the dress that the Blue Mages local to the Netherworld wore, and a tall, busty woman in a knight's armour standing behind her. It was Kevin that had spoken to her.

"No, not really." She replied, smiling kindly. "I tried to warn him about this fight, and he charged in without considering anyone but himself, it's a rather embarrassing trait of his, actually."

"So, why are you really here if you knew Gordon wasn't going to defeat the Overlord?" The taller demon behind the girl asked.

Jennifer simply ignored her and went back to work on Thursday.

* * *

Kray pulled the binoculars away from his eyes and put them back in the bag he had been carrying over his waist. He pulled a knife from one of the side pockets and said, "That's them all right. But they've changed a bit. I think it has something to do with the curse, but there's no doubt in my mind that those guys are the ones we're taking back."

"Well then." Vice said, standing up, a slight grin spread across his face. "The curse would have wiped out most of their memories from before they arrived here at this point in time, considering how close they've been to demon nobility for their stay here, so it's safe to say that we're charging into battle with an enemy we've never faced before. Are you ready?"

"Has that ever stopped us before?" Kray asked. "Only you, Kray."

"Heh, I guess that's right. But, I'm going in first to cause the diversion, as we planned."

"Yes, of course. Let's do our best not to kill anyone, alright?"

"I should be asking that of you, you old man."

"I'm only five years older than you."

"Exactly! You're _older_ than me, and as far as I know, you're a _man_, so you're an old man."

"...Right."

* * *

"BEEP BEEP BLIP BEEP INTRUDER ALERT. TWO UNREGISTERED LIFE FORMS ARE APPROACHING US FROM BEHIND." Everyone had stopped walking to the Dimensional Gate that had opened, as Thursday had recommended.

"Who are they, Thursday? Do you know if they're friendly or not?" Jennifer asked, looking scanning the mountains that surrounded the group, trying to locate their guests.

"...THEY ARE HUMAN, BUT THEY ARE NOT REGISTERED WITH THE EDF... ONE OF THEM IS CLOSING IN ON US QUICKLY WHILE THE OTHER IS STILL IN HI-! THEY TELEPORTED TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE VALLEY!"

Jennifer got closer to Gordon and grabbed onto his arm. "Gordon... what do we do?"

"We wait for them, of course!" Laharl said, speaking before Gordon could get in a response. "Hey you hunk of junk, are they still moving around?"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"There we go! Obviously they're trying to pick a fight, so let's wait until they wear themselves out with the magic show."

"No need for that, Your Majesty." Laharl spun around, his sword materializing out of thin air and pointed it at the newcomer, a young man dressed in an army uniform with a knife in both hands. His hair was light brown and his smile was wide. "I'm just here to collect a few of your vassals. More specifically, those cursed humans over there." He pointed to Kevin and his friends.

"Like hell you are, punk! They're _my_ vassals!" Laharl shouted. The man stopped smiling and said, "Well aware. And I'm stealing them from you." He disappeared, reappeared beside Kevin and the two disappeared again before it could register with anyone there. He appeared in front of Laharl once again and bowed deeply. "I just some orders from my boss, actually. He says I'm supposed to engage you in battle. I hope you don't hold back."

"WAIT!" The man stopped and looked over to the source of the voice, Dyme, and his expression softened somewhat.

"Your voice... are you Kray?"

"So, the curse hasn't corroded your memory as bad as we had thought... Yes. I am Kray."

"What do you have to do with him, water boy?" Laharl asked.

"Kray was a subordinate of a co-worker of mine... but to see him here, interested in these guys is weird. He isn't even a Nobody anymore! Tell me dude, how does it feel to have your heart back?"

"Couldn't feel any more awesome if I tried, Number IX, what about you?"

"Rockin'."

"Heh. Well, Vice is waiting for us on the other side of one of the mountains here. So do you want to go ahead and meet up with him?"

"Vice's here too? Man, this situation is heavy, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is. We're going to be coordinating a group attack in an hour or so, according to the time our proper present."

"Cool."

"That's a pretty lacklustre response... oh well, not too surprised either. Wanna get going while I hold off the big, scary Overlord? Or, diminutive, non-threatening demon, as it would be." Kray sighed and side-stepped a ball of black energy that had been flung at him by Laharl. "Hey there, you punk! I'm the _Overlord_! You have some balls to look down on me, I'll give you that much, but if you keep it up, you will not live to see tomorrow!"

Kray, ignoring the Prince, asked Lochit, "So are you going too?" The girl shook her head in response and said, "No. As far as I'm concerned, you're a stranger that kidnapped one of my friends and are getting in the way of us lifting these curses."

"What if I told you I know someone that can lift it no sweat? Has Laharl back there promised to do any such thing for you?" Lochit shook her head, Kray grinned. "I see, so you're just clinging on to what's become familiar to you, afraid to make a move because you'll make the wrong decision and might wind up hurting someone..." Xunahs stepped in front of Lochit, his arms spread wide. He was glaring straight at Kray.

"Oh? Xunahs? Don't tell me you forgot about me after our brief meeting."

"No, I remember you. You told me you were originally assigned to kill me. Of course, after you guys explained what you were doing, I understood and didn't throw up a fuss about that, but..." He lowered his arms and summoned Dreggan. "If you decide to start picking at my friends' hearts and make them go with you through bullying them, I won't stay on your side, and I sure as hell won't go following you, because we already know what we need to do to lift these curses; and for now, we're tagging along with Laharl to solve our problems." Kray looked to Dyme for support, but he was standing behind Xunahs, along with Tahlia. "Sorry dude," he said "you gotta go with the bigger fish in this sort of thing."

"I see." He turned to face Laharl. "And are you sure you want to keep such unloyal vassals?"

Etna laughed at that. "Unloyal? Dude, I tried to kill the Prince just over two weeks ago. If he's able to keep trust in me after that little stunt I pulled, these brats aren't going to bother him at all."

Kray stepped back. No matter how he looked at it, things weren't going to end quietly. He heaved a dramatic sigh and said, "I understand. I obviously can't just waltz in and ask for your property, Overlord. So it's obvious I'm just going to have to take it by force!" He disappeared and reappeared in front of Laharl and said, "Even if you do manage to defeat me, there's a man on the other side of the mountain that is far more terrifying than anything else in this Netherworld."

"And yet, you sent one of my finest vassals to him. That wasn't smart of you."

"Even if Kevin does decide to step up against Vice, he'll be put down with ease. Vice is a man you don't cross, especially when he has a job to do."

* * *

"One down, four to go." Kevin's eyes blinked repeatedly. He felt nauseous and disoriented. He had been, not even a second ago, standing with his friends, facing off against some strange, smiling young man, and now he was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a much more threatening figure sitting in a corner with his arms crossed. There was a loud screeching noise and the two looked up to see a red flare arc brilliantly through the sky. "I see... he managed to subdue your friends already." He stood up. Kevin saw he was as tall as him, well almost. An inch shorter, maybe? "Well, sit here while I give Kray some cover while he takes them back here."

"Wait, what do you mean 'subdue'? Who are you?" The man shrugged and said, "That will be explained in due time. You know who I am, but with your curse, and how I've changed, I don't blame you for not recognizing me." Kevin stumbled a bit as he tried to correct his balance and almost fell on his rear as a result. "No, tell me now." His voice louder and with more authority. The man stopped as if considering, for a second and then said, "No. Now wait here."

Kevin summoned Vortex and said, "Not until I get my answers." Electricity crackled around his body and Keyblade and the man sighed.

"This isn't going to be an easy task for me, is it?"

"If you explain yourself, it might be." Kevin replied. His opponent drew a long sword from a scabbard that had been tied around his waist by a piece of rope. It bore a striking resemblance to the katana Samurai Nobodies wielded, but something was different about it. It had something of a reddish hue to its blade. It wasn't blood; it looked more like fire had been trapped inside it than anything else.

"If you didn't remind me so much of him, I wouldn't even bother considering this, but it's to be expected. You are his alternate reality counterpart." The man said.

"What?" Before Kevin could better ask what the man meant, he lunged at him with amazing agility. Kevin barely had time to block, and the impact of the man hitting him sent vibrations through his entire body. It felt like the impact alone had broken both of his arms/ Kevin disengaged and jumped back, throwing his wings open so he could get into the air and better assess the damage dealt to him and anything he could use to his advantage.

Other than the rocky hills on the one side of him, there was nothing that could possibly be seen as advantageous to him. He could fly the entire time and whittle the man down with magic, but it was hard enough to sustain proper flight, let alone launch a barrage of lightning that may be ineffective. He could fly over to Laharl and the others and get them to attack the man, but no... if that other man, the one that took him was anywhere near as powerful as the guy he was facing down right now, they'd all be overwhelmed with no problem.

"I see you're trying to think up a strategy. Sorry to tell you this kid, but the only way you will be able to beat me is if you take me head on... but, maybe I can stop you from doing anything stupid with some memory jogging... my name, perhaps. Does the name Vice ring a bell?"

"Nope."

"Well then... hmm. What about Andrea?"

Kevin dropped a few feet, shocked that this man knew about Andrea. Vice grinned under his shroud. "Bingo."

"Yeah? So what if you know about Andrea?"

"What if I told you I could help you find her."

"She's dead, you idiot!"

"Is she really now? Tell me something: Did you see her die?"

Kevin stared down at Vice, who was staring back at him. "No, but I do have plenty of reliable witnesses."

"Two of which are off-world, one of which has lost most of her memory to the curse. Tell me something, do you remember the man she lost her life to?"

"Ryan."

"Right! And how many times has he eluded death?"

"...A couple of times."

"So, what's stopping Ryan from keeping Andrea alive for his own purposes and staging her death to keep you from tracking her?"

Kevin floated back down to ground level and stared straight into Vice's eyes. His posture didn't change; he was still standing, ready to fight at a moment's notice. He really looked like he was telling the honest truth.

"The fact that it wouldn't make sense. Andrea would never do anything for him!"

"Is that so? So tell me, what if your friendship with Andrea was all just a sham? What if she was pretending to be your friend to get at something? What if you were just a pawn to her?"

Kevin pointed Vortex, now crackling loudly with electricity, at Vice's chest and said, "I will not let you insult the memory of my friend like that!" He drew Vortex back and grabbed on to the hilt with his other hand and ran full speed towards the man. Just as he got close enough for Vice to prepare to block, Kevin let out a burst of air under his left foot and propelled himself over Vice's head, and did a 180 degree spin, landed behind him and rushed for his unprotected back. The man ducked and sidestepped the attack only for Kevin to spin around sharply and lunge at him, grabbing his face with his now freed left hand and shot threw him to the ground with his own momentum. He let go and fired a large ball of lightning at the man's head before jumping away.

Much to his surprise, Vice got back up and besides the fact the shroud that was obscuring his face was smouldering, he looked like he hadn't even taken a scratch from Kevin's attack. "Well, this is far more interesting than I would've given it credit for. In fact, this is a battle that I haven't had since Venxik." Kevin flinched upon hearing the name._ He fought Venxik?_ If there was one thing he remembered, it was how easily Venxik crushed him near the start of his journey. Sure, he had come a long way since then, but so had Venxik, logically speaking of course. And he doubted very strongly that a fight against the Venxik from back then would go smoothly.

"What's the problem Kevin? Have you already gotten scared, knowing you're soon going to face a superior opponent?" Kevin blinked and shook his head. He looked at Vice, who was grinning. "I'm not talking about myself, just so you know. Once we get you out of here and the curse lifted, you'll be doing something really important."

Kevin stood straight up and said, "Well, I'm not up for that task yet. I'm not strong enough to take on Venxik."

"Hmhmhmhm... that's true, you aren't."

"So you were just going to send me off to my death?"

"That's a possibility."

Kevin's laughed and got back into a fighting position. "I just remembered something wonderful about the Netherworld: When you fight and defeat someone, the effects from doing so are almost always immediate. So, to get strong enough to do what I want, I'm going to have to just mow down everything that stands in my way. Sorry Vice, you're in my way and you're a particularly large weed that needs to get whacked. Nothing personal."

He dashed at Vice again and with his free hand, threw a bolt of lightning at the man, who sidestepped it. Just as he was a few steps away from the man, Kevin did the same as he did before and launched himself into the air. Vice kept his eye on the Nobody until he was above his head and quickly pivoted to face the back, where Kevin landed before. Unlike last time, he really had no time to prepare. The only warning he got of any sort of attack was the blast of air that hit him directly from above and the loud sound of a thunderclap.

Just before Kevin landed in front of where Vice had been facing moments ago, he kicked him hard in the back, making him stumble forwards. Kevin landed on the ground behind him, two Keyblades, Vortex and the unnamed translucent blue one. Kevin rushed forwards and sliced the blue Keyblade along Vice's side and knocked his sword out of his hand with Vortex. Just as Kevin ran past him, he got to see Kevin's clothes' colour had changed to varying shades of yellow and that there was electricity flying randomly off his body. Kevin disappeared as he turned around to continue his assault, and Vice's entire body exploded with pain when he reappeared to his right.

Vice fell to the ground, with several wounds on his body bleeding freely. His clothes were torn and he had burns in some areas, mostly on his stomach and back. Kevin dismissed Vortex and began to walk away. The battle was over already.

* * *

"And now, for the last one." Lochit looked around her. This man, Kray had taken out everyone but her in a manner of seconds, if that. Kray looked at her with a bewildered expression, assuming she would've fallen too.

For some reason, everything around her began to slow, including Kray's voice as he said, "I'm sorry. This will all be over soon." He was walking at an increasingly slow speed, and even his voice slowed massively until there was no more sound, and he continued his slow walk towards her. She, herself could hardly move and upon that realization, something in her brain clicked. He was freezing time! That's why he was warping around such a huge area with no problem and took everyone out before she could even blink. She began to crouch low and curl up into a ball and put all of her energy into making a giant wall of ice surround her and her friends. It hardly got up to waist height before time froze completely.

Kray tried taking a step towards the girl, but couldn't. His feet were trapped. He looked down and laughed; as it turned out, time wasn't the only thing that had been frozen. Lochit had also made ice spring up around his feet and legs at the last possible thousandth of a second (which felt much longer for her), binding him in place, there was absolutely no escape for him at the time.

Time returned to normal speed and Lochit exploded out of the barrier she had been making for herself as a last resort, just in case her last second trap against Kray didn't work, and flew at him, using the ice that was behind her to push her forwards. As she neared her target, a spear materialized in her hands. Its shaft was made of steel and had been painted a very light shade of blue, while the blade itself was large and triangular, with a broad base that narrowed to a point. Unlike the shaft, it wasn't painted and kept the silvery colour of steel. In total, the whole thing was a head taller than Lochit was.

She tightened the grip on the spear and did a flip so that she landed feet first on Kray's icy prison. She bent back to begin her swing into the final blow and asked before doing so, "Any last words?"

Kray grinned at her widely and said, "Yeah. Behind you." Lochit didn't bother checking for any threats behind her and began her final attack against the man, only to hear what sounded like someone rocking out on a guitar and getting blasted up into the air by the pillar of water that followed. She turned around as she hit the top of her flight and saw Dyme standing up not even three feet behind where she was poised for her attack moments ago, completely uninjured, his sitar in his hands. She growled a curse at him under her breath before falling back to the ground below into a pool of water that had started forming to catch her. She soon hit the water and the ground below, the impact knocking the breath out of her. After regaining her breath, she struggled to get up, but was pinned down by a black boot on her back, courtesy of Dyme. Looking down at her, he sighed and said, "Sorry little lady, I can't have you killing people, that'd look bad on your record, and you wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you did."

"What was that you said about not being able to fight?" She spat. He shrugged in response. "I said I don't like fighting or really doing any sort of work, for that matter, but I'll step up to the plate if I really need to, which I did."

"And if you didn't, you lazy arse, I would've been a Kraykebab." Kray said in annoyance. "Yup." He plucked a few notes on his sitar and the ice surrounding Kray melted away and the man reached into a pouch that was hanging off his waist and pulled out a road flare. He fired it up into the sky and sat down. Dyme did the same, only on Lochit's back and said, "So that was Vice's signal?"

"Yeah."

"What if Kevin's giving him problems?"

"He won't—" Before he could finish, there was a loud thunderclap that drowned out everything else he was going to say, followed by a flash of light. The two exchanged a look and Dyme said, "You may want to check that out, dude."

Kray nodded and got up onto his feet and ran towards the source of the commotion. Once he has gone out of sight behind the rocks, Dyme got off Lochit and let her up. Not surprisingly, she threw him to the ground as soon as she got to her feet and pinned him by stomping on his stomach. She pointed the spear at his throat and hissed, "Very fucking stupid of you to let me go, wasn't it, traitor?"

"How'd the saying go? 'You need to trick your friend to trick your enemy'... or something like that." She pushed the spear closer, pricking the skin of his exposed throat, causing him to bleed. "And who's your friend? Me or him?"

His eyes moved to the right and he frowned as if thinking. There was a brief pause of him humming and he finally said, "Well, I've only really talked to him this once. While we were kinda co-workers, I never really saw him because he was below me in rank. I've known you for a few weeks now, had your back in some minor scuffles, and had to deal with that Maderas crap with you, and the crap that Raynx dude pulled on your boyf-" The spear twitched threateningly, making him choose better words, "friend that you don't have a thing with." That satisfied her. "And from what I've seen, I can safely say that you, Kevin, Xunahs and Tahlia are all pretty cool people. I know what Kevin's going through right now, looking for his heart and all. It's funny how simple the solution was though; it makes me wonder what Xemnas was thinking when he got us doing all that work."

Lochit had calmed down somewhat and pulled the spear back from her prisoner's throat. "Why? Don't you think he could've just made a mistake about that stuff?"

"No, definitely not." Dyme replied, not bothering to shake his head because the spear, while well away from his throat, still worried him. "The man was many things, but he was not a man that made mistakes. It was only when Roxas defected that Xemnas started losing his grip on the situation. Of course, everything following that is a complete and utter blur for me, since I died a week or so after Roxas left. Thank you Sora. That was sarcasm. Dying hurts."

Lochit nodded and said, "Yeah, I know. I was a Nobody too, and I died because some giant dragon Heartless called a Dustflier stomped on me. Luckily, Tom managed to get away, though and met up with Kevin and those guys. If he didn't, things probably would not have worked out as well as they have so far."

Dyme let out a low whistle. "Wow, really? A Dustflier did you in? Those things are beastly. It took Roxas everything he had when he was at his prime to take it down. Damn, what else did you run in to, Heartless-wise?"

"Eh, not much really. Tom and I were employed by this man named Drake, who had possessed the Heartless of another man named Rould and through some sort of trick, gave his Heartless a human form. I think he was trying to make scout out new talent for Superior's shitty little club. He saw me and Tom, and he took us under his wing. Most everything we learned when it came to combat, we learned because of him. Most of the time we spent with him was time spent training or doing small missions, such as taking out Nobodies that were tailing us."

"I see..."

* * *

Kevin stopped walking, hearing the light sound of bells chiming, and the sound of metal scraping against rock, followed by Vice grunting as he got back onto his feet. The teen turned around and saw Vice's wounds had been completely closed up. He looked as if he had just entered the battle, which was bad for Kevin. That last attack wore him out, and he probably wouldn't be able to pull it again.

"Thanks for the help Kray, but I've got things covered here." Kray laughed, and Kevin turned his head, trying to find his hiding place, but couldn't see anything besides Vice and the rocks around them. "Fine, fine. But if you're not done in five minutes, I'm coming back to take him."

"Five? Maybe two and a half if he's lucky."

"HAH! Right, I'll see you in two."

Without any warning, Vice dashed at Kevin, Caineghis readied for a killing blow. The Nobody barely had any time to jump into the air and avoid the attack, and once he reached the peak of his jump, he tried spreading out their wings, except there was a problem. They were jammed. He swore as he made his descent, and saw Vice staring at him as he fell to the ground, ready to attack him the moment he made contact. He released his Lightning Form and his clothes returned to their previous colour and the state that accompanied his transformation into a demon.

He sent out a blast of air at the ground below him to cushion his impact and Vice immediately went on the offensive. Kevin raised Vortex to block Caineghis, but was thrown backwards by the impact. Kevin righted himself in the air and landed back on the ground safely and had Vortex ready once again to block another attack.

_Why the hell is this guy so strong? I don't think I could beat him right now... I mean, if Venxik were able to beat him before he even became as powerful as he, er... could be now, then I am royally fucked unless I do some massive training! And even then, Venxik will still be getting stronger, or could have even caused too much damage for me to correct! I... I don't think I can do this..._

There was a flash of light and Vortex disappeared from Kevin's hands. The teen looked down at his now empty hands in shock, completely oblivious to the fact that he was now wide open to a ruthless opponent.

He didn't even react to getting elbowed hard in the stomach and being knocked onto the ground. He did, however, react to the foot crushing his chest and the flaming sword pointed right between his eyes. "So, the Keyblade has abandoned you? Worthless. A warrior whose weapon doesn't obey his command is not worthy of his life."

Kevin glared up at the man, the flames of the sword reflected by his own red eyes. "I don't need a stinking oversized key to kick your ass, buddy. Get off of me and I'll show you what I can do." He reached into a pouch strapped around his waist and pulled out two, five fingered gloves that had a strange silver wire mesh over top of some strange, dark yellow material. He slipped them over the hands, clenched them into fists to make sure they were on properly and asked, "So, are you planning on moving off of me, or do I have to move you myself?"

The man didn't budge and Kevin sighed. "Very well." He smacked the flaming sword away from his face and rolled to the right, jumped up to his feet and lunged at Vice, throwing a punch at his chest. The man sidestepped, readied Caineghis and slashed back at Kevin, who avoided the attack and retaliated with a kick to the ribs, and once again missed.

"Yeesh! You'd expect a guy as bulky as you not to be so damn fast!" Kevin said as he jumped back to avoid another counter attack. His posture and his movements were vastly different than before. Hell, the feeling he gave off was completely different. Before, Kevin was mad, and protective of his friend's memory, not to mention confused, but now he just seemed enthralled by the powerful opponent before him.

The Nobody dashed for Vice, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris and the man raised his sword to parry the incoming blow, but just as Kevin reached striking range, he disappeared completely and reappeared behind the man. Vice, wise to the trick turned around before Kevin could punch him in the spine and brought down Caineghis to end his opponent's assault, only to find the Nobody was no longer there. Kevin reappeared on Vice's right hand side and grabbed his forearm and spun, taking the hefty man with him. He did two more complete rotations and slammed Vice into the ground.

The man gasped in pain, feeling the sharp rocks on the ground below him digging into his back. He could feel his clothes get damp from the blood that had started coming out of his freshly made wounds. He stuggled to get back on his feet, and glared at Kevin, a fire burning within his eyes.

"Kevin, it seems you've lost yourself to the curse already. To turn you back to normal would be impossible. It's no wonder you've lost your ability to control Vortex." The air around Caineghis shimmered as the blade erupted into blistering flames, singeing the long sleeves of his camouflage jacket. Vice raised the blade to his face and Kevin cringed at the smell of burning flesh that came from a wound that Vice had suffered many years ago. "You should feel honoured to face me like this, Kevin. But you should also feel terrified, if you had a heart that is. I will use this blood stained blade enshrouded in the hellfire of war and end your pitiful life with it."

He circled around Kevin, who slowly turned to face his enemy. "Why don't you spread your wings and fly?" He asked tauntingly. Kevin didn't reply and just followed his movements with his eyes. The only sound being made besides the rocks crunching under the feet of the two combatants was coming from the sword in Vice's hands, the flames hissing and crackling, impatiently waiting to burn through flesh once more.

After watching his opponent, Kevin decided there were no openings he could exploit readily. Electricity crackled around his clenched fists and he grinned as he crouched, ready to lunge forward. It was time to make one. Vice, seeing Kevin was ready to attack began his charge. Kevin disappeared and the man waited half a second before spinning around in a circle, Caineghis stretched out to hit its target. He felt a bump and Kevin reappeared, both hands holding onto the sword to keep himself from getting injured. Whatever those gloves were made of, it was extremely powerful.

The Nobody, still being pushed by the sword, gritted his teeth and let loose a torrent of electricity through the steel and into Vice's body and through that, into the ground. The man cried out in pain, stunned by the attack and toppled over, completely still.

The force of the swing sent Kevin flying back several feet. He did a roll in the air so that he could land feet first and saw Kray appear next to Vice once again, preparing a Curaga spell. Kevin scowled. He couldn't open his wings because they had gotten jammed the last time he closed them up.

Kray looked down at Vice and frowned as the magic died out. Vice still wasn't moving. Kray bent down and felt his throat for a pulse and after a few seconds, pulled back and stared at the man in shock. Kevin had killed him with that last attack. He brought himself out of the trance and shook his head. "I'm sorry you had to go through that again. Dying three times is never fun. I just hope you won't squander this new chance I'm giving you."

Kevin was barely able to make out what the other man was mumbling, but considering his reaction to feeling for Vice's pulse, Kevin won, and Vice was never going to get up again. Kray bent down and everything around Kevin, including his flight slowed right down. However, just as suddenly as time slowing down began, it ended and Vice was up on his feet, Caineghis blazing furiously in his hands, mirroring its wielder's current state of mind. He let out a furious roar and charged towards Kevin, tearing up the ground with each step.

At first, Kevin tried twisting out of the way or trying to get himself to make contact with the ground already, but he still wasn't getting close enough to the ground, or going slowly enough to safely land without snapping his legs off. He couldn't turn around enough to force out a blast of air to slow him down. Most of him felt paralyzed. Was it the realization that he was actually going to die?

_No... there's still something I can do. I can manage to take Vice down. I've done it twice, so I can do it again. I CAN'T give up!_

The Nobody spread his arms and legs out to cause as much wind resistance as possible and changed the air currents so a whirlwind began to form around him. There was a flash of light as Vortex appeared in his hand and the swirling air died down. He dropped to the ground and dashed towards Vice, who was still running at him full speed, unimpressed by the fact that Kevin regained his weapon.

Just as they were close enough, Vice readied Caineghis and let out a mighty yell, ready to slice it along the length of Kevin's body. The Nobody in question let out a burst of air that knocked Vice off balance and made his strike miss widely, and he used the burst of air to roll himself over mid-air so that his back was pointed towards Vice. He closed his eyes and thought, _Dear God I hope this works._

His entire body shivered as he heard the parts that made his wings open and close grind. He never could stand the high pitched screech of metals rubbing against each other. After what felt like an agonizing eternity of ear bursting pain, he felt his wings give and open. He sighed with relief and prepared to fly off so he could finish his final assault, but something clicked, he was flung high up into the air and he started to black out as he made his return trip down, seeing a trail of yellow smoke floating above him as he fell and was the last thing he saw before slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

"What the bloody hell do you mean 'that's enough'? Seriously! I'm handling him just fine!" Ashlee yelled at Kevin's Heartless, who shrugged in response and said, "Well, things are getting bad for you, here. Halixat has taken control of the other two, and I am next in line."

"How do you know?" Ashlee asked, sceptical about his claims, with good reason of course. "Because, she's already tried to get me twice and I managed to fight her off. Anyways, before we part ways, because you are going to go away, and I'll force you to if I have to; I'll tell you my name. It's Evin. I decided to name myself Evin so that I can at least have some sort of an identity to be remembered by when you guys come back here to tear stuff up."

"Why Evin? That's such a crappy name." Venxik said tauntingly. Evin shrugged and replied, "Simple, really. I'm part of a whole. I may be a pretty damn substantial part, but yeah. To name myself would mean that I am saying I am Kevin, rather than a part of him that's been separated. The Kevin out there is the body and soul of us, so I can let him get away with calling himself Kevin, since he is so close to being a complete Kevin."

"You really like the sound of your own name, don't you?" Ashlee asked. Evin laughed and said, "Yup. I'm a narcissist. Keep that in mind when we meet up when we are reunited as whole people."

"I will... Good luck."

"You can have all my luck, Ashlee. I won't need it in a few seconds." She nodded and opened a Dark Corridor behind her and ran through it to get back with Kairi.

"Venxik, why the _hell_ didn't you do anything?" Halixat shouted. The Heartless shrugged and said, "She'll be coming back. I'll take care of her then. For now, however, let's get ready to fortify our defences. We'll be having visitors in a few hours."

Author's Note: And there, boys and girls, is chapter twenty. Many people thought the mighty author, Kee Blayd to be extinct due to his lack of updates on anything ever, but little did they know he was preparing for the zombie apocalypse that will surely one day befall humanity. But sadly enough, the killing zombies has started to lose its charm, mostly because his zombie killing comrades are getting ready for their final exams for the semester, so he has a lot more time on his hands to do stuff. He still curses having no life with all his being, and is looking for a job, so that might change. Right. Yes. Ending chapter segment.

Vice: ...

Kray: C'mon big guy, say something! You're in the spotlight!

Vice: ... *looks to the fire exit door*

Kray: Oh come on! There are literally _millions_ of people watching you, ready for you to speak! Say something, dude!

Vice: ...

Kray: Seriously? You shouted some pretty badass speeches for the Nobodies during the Glorious Advance, but you're too nervous to say a few lines?

Vice: ...I'm shy, okay?

Kray: *looks at him* PFFT SERIOUSLY? You don't look like the type of guy that would get all shy in front of an audience well into the million- erk!

Gabrielle: *holding her spear, which she just smacked him with* Can you shut up already? Stop teasing the poor guy.

Kray: Yess'm.

Gabrielle: Right. So, I'll handle this one.

Gabrielle: Next time on chapter twenty-one of Noon: The Invasion From Within! Stay tuned!

Superior: Oh, I see what you did there, author!

Author's Note: ?

Kray: Poor Fourth Wall never stood a chance.

Halixat: Hey, hey. Sorry to butt in guys, but I still need to ask Venxik here a question.

Venxik: Shoot.

Kray: Hey, wait. You guys weren't even part of this segment!

Halixat: Shut up. Anyways, Venxik are you always so nonchalant about plans failing?

Venxik: Yup.

Halixat: Is it because you have a backup?

Venxik: Classified.


	21. The NinetyNine Unseen Trials of Kevin

Author's Note: Did you smell what the Kevin was cooking? I didn't because I don't have a nose. I'm just an Author's Note. But yes, I'm finally back. I'm very sorry for the lack of updates, but I can guarantee that I am not a corpse in any way, shape or form! In fact, I'm very much alive and I plan on staying that way. As for the chapter itself, it's here and things will be picking up following it. For my old readers that have no doubt given up on me, I'm sorry once again for disappearing, and should you stumble upon this fic again, I hope you read it and stay as I will stay until the bitter end. And for my new readers (don't think I haven't seen you favourite and add me), you are as big a part as my old readers are for my continuing on with this fic. I guess you made me realize that I still have the power to draw people in and give them an enjoyable reading experience. Anyways, that's enough sappy stuff. Sit tight and enjoy the show.

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: The Ninety-Nine Unseen Trials of Kevin

Everyone was clustered in a group around the two fallen warriors. Xunahs and Kray were checking Kevin's and Vice's injuries respectively. While Kray was casually examining his partner for cuts and broken bones, Xunahs was doing the same, albeit more frantically. Kevin had, at least for the time being survived the explosion of his wing pack, and since it had melded itself with his body as a result of his transformation into a demon, his back was not a pretty sight, to say the least. In fact, it was a miracle he survived, even with the combined efforts of Flonne's and Claudia's most powerful healing spells being directed at him.

"Fuck! What do we do?" Xunahs shouted. "The healing magic is just barely keeping him alive; it's doing nothing to help him recover!"

"We could take him to the hospital in the castle, but I don't think moving him would be a good idea." Etna said, not taking her eyes off of the fallen Nobody.

"I can help there." Xunahs whipped around to face the source of the voice, Kray. His face red and his fists shaking. "Haven't you helped enough, you asshole? If it weren't for you and your dumb muscle buddy there, we wouldn't _be_in this fucking mess!"

Kray looked Xunahs directly in the eyes and with a completely even voice, replied, "I know. We fucked up royally, especially Vice. I won't deny that I had a hand in this, but we have gone over ten years without a heart. It was hard enough to keep our emotions in check. On top of that, if you guys had just surrendered and come with us, you wouldn't have someone and a very important someone at that, about to die!"

"And what's so important about Kevin? Why do you need him so badly?" Tahlia asked, getting Kray's attention turned to her in response. "It's simple, we need him and Ashlee to kill your guys' remaining Heartless. We would employ Sora and Riku for the task, but once they're done with finding Kairi, they have someone equally, if not even more dangerous to deal with!"

"WHAT?" Xunahs roared, "You're telling us that you're planning on sending us after Venxik and his goons? Do you have ANY idea how powerful he is? I served under the guy, he can just fucking raise his hands up and cover an entire fucking world in darkness in a heartbeat! He has fighting prowess and brute strength, the likes of which I have never seen in my life, and he lives on a world made completely out of darkness, which he feeds off of to get even more powerful. He can heal himself so well with the darkness he absorbs to bring himself from the brink of death! If I thought we could handle it, I would just get everyone to follow me to The World That Never Was and take care of them then and there!"

Kray's composure faltered slightly as he turned back to Xunahs, scowling. "You think we don't know how powerful Venxik is? We have all, with the exception of myself fought your old allies, all of us got our asses readily handed to us. This guy that put your 'bro' in critical condition fought Venxik, had nearly beaten him but still came out of it barely alive, just like Kevin is now!"

"What was with the way you said 'bro'?"

"What do you mean? Do you think I was implying that, oh I don't know? Kevin doesn't really see you as close a friend you believe he is? Let's face the fact's here, buddy: He's a Nobody; sure Nobodies can _act_ like they have friends and care for individuals and sure they may act on those falsities on instinct without really thinking about it, but deep down they don't care. All that matters to a Nobody is taking back what was theirs: Their heart."

"Kevin doesn't really feel that way about all of us! He is a good friend to all of us!" Xunahs shouted.

"How do you know that? You've only seen him as a Nobody. You did not spend a single day with him when he wasn't a human being. None of you have! Hell! None of you even spent time with Andrea, the only other person to have spent time with Kevin when he was a human!"

"Well, I spent plenty of time with Axdrane, and there were times where she would not even shut up about Kevin and how he was a goofy, happy-go-lucky kid that would give his life to save Andrea, and anyone else he cared about. But that's not important, who are you to put yourself in a position where you act like you know more about him than we do? So what if you and your fellow idiots stalked him, us and countless other individuals, hoping to take them in to the Organization for their skills and talents? More importantly, why do you insist on weakening our trust in him?"

Kray laughed and responded, "Do you want to know why I am saying what I'm saying? I'll tell you why! Kevin, just like the rest of you, is nothing more than a child! A good amount of you not even half-way through puberty yet! How do you expect me to think any of you can do anything worth a damn? Heroes aren't kids that hop world-to-world, spending half of their time dicking around and dealing with teen angst and shit! Heroes are adults that go around saving lives and fighting evil! Tell me, outside of your little circle of friends, how many lives have all of you saved?"

"An uncountable number of them." Tahlia said. "We've gone and eliminated a huge amount of Venxik's goons, leaving him with three allies at the least. Those 'goons' that we killed were each very powerful Heartless capable of devouring the hearts of all worlds and the people that lived on them with ease. But tell me something about yourself, Kray, you knife throwing pessimist, how could you, a fifteen year old at the time, be such a crucial part in the military of your home world and wound up being a key figure in the liberation of your people from a sorceress with the ability to control the entire human populace?"

Kray was taken aback by the girl's query. The very same girl that he had taken a jab at when he called out these kids on their age just turned his own argument on him without any hesitation. He quickly regained his composure and said, "I'm gifted with extraordinary powers."

Tahlia smiled a smile so sweet it'd make any man's teeth rot out of their gums and replied, "Tell me something, Kray. Are any of us here _not_ gifted with an extraordinary power of some sort?"

"In a word, yes. In more than one word, You, Tahlia, bless your clever little brain, are an annoyance to the group. You are weaker than everyone else, far less mature and are the kind of person to have others look after you because you're too incompetent to handle yourself. You're getting mixed up in the world of adults because you think you actually have some sort of _importance_. You're insignificant."

"HEY! Back off you asshole." Xunahs shouted, and after giving Tahlia a concerned look to make sure she wasn't hurt too badly he continued. "You are one hell of a person, you know that? The moment a little girl breaks through your little façade, you play the part of the bully and push her around and stomp on her feelings and self esteem because you hate losing! If you want to start picking fights with people, you should pick fights with older people, unless you're too cowardly to do anything besides bully children."

That struck a nerve and Xunahs relished the look on the smug bastard's face when he made it abundantly clear that the teen had done so.

"So, you want a fight? Come and get me, you little shit!"

Xunahs summoned Dreggan and had it readied and Kray readied a pair of knives. Before the two could engage in combat, they were blasted away by two pillars of water and Dyme stepped in between the two. "Listen guys, I know how much you absolutely love each other, but the both of you need to chill out."

Xunahs got up and spat out the water he had accidentally gotten in his mouth and Kray did the same. The two, ignoring Dyme's advice, rushed each other, only to have two thick walls of ice stop the two dead in their tracks.

"That's enough out of both of you, damn it! The last thing either Vice or Kevin need right now is a huge fucking battle to happen right beside them while they're both so badly injured!" Lochit said, looking at both Xunahs and Kray, "Kray, you said that you can help get Kevin to the hospital without worsening his condition, right?"

The man grudgingly stopped trying to attack Xunahs and said, "Yes, I can. I can freeze time for his body so that moving him won't affect him in any way, and give the caretaker of the hospital ample time to get Kevin prepared for surgery as safely and efficiently as possible. But what can the person possibly do to help him that two powerful healers can't?"

"As long as the person she's treating doesn't give up on living, she can bring them back from anything, well almost anything." Laharl said.

"I see… well, we're going to give this a shot then." Kray walked around the wall of ice and made his way back to Kevin. After receiving a disapproving glare from Lochit, Xunahs did the same. The man held his hands out over Kevin's and Vice's bodies and a bright light glowed around the two. The light lifted from the man, but remained over the Nobody and older man, freezing the light and everything around him in time, albeit temporarily.

"Right, we have thirty minutes. I suggest we hurry up. Can someone carry the wounded? Be mindful of their injuries."

* * *

Jan, Sora, Riku, Anil, Dart and the newest addition to the group, an eight feet tall wood golem sat in the infirmary of the Gummi Ship the three former Nobody Leaders had used to pick up Sora, Riku, Tom, Donald and Goofy from the world that was now completely lost to the darkness. The ship itself was set on autopilot and on its way to Twilight Town, which would be where Ashlee and Kairi would be awaiting pickup, if they hadn't been stopped before arriving there. Right now, Tom, Donald and Goofy resting in the few beds in the infirmary, Tom being in the worst shape. The wood golem, Sven got up to pace back and forth once again, each step rocking the ship, much to the annoyance of Jan. "Could you stop that, please?" She asked.

He stopped and reached a large wooden hand up to scratch the back of his head and nodded after removing the troubling itch.

"Tom isn't getting any better; do you have any plans to help him?" He asked. After getting nugatory head shakes from those conscious, he clapped his hands together, making a thunderous crack that sounded like a tree falling over and said, "Right! I can help! Magichange!" There was a flash of light and Sven was gone, and there was now a giant vine entangled wooden glove covering Tom's fist.

Sven's unusually quiet voice (considering his size) echoed from the glove and he said, "I used something called Magichange which will let my powers, which includes my regenerative abilities pass on to him for as long as I can hold it. I can't hold it for long, but I'll do my best to help. Wood golems are known for two things: Their insane power and their unsurpassed regeneration. At least, that's what my dad always told me. Maderas had me imprisoned in his castle so he could offer me and my powers to that shadow bending girl."

"Halixat and she is a necromancer." Dart replied flatly.

"No, she is a master of manipulating shadows. She liked to mimic the undead, but those things were all pure darkness."

Jan laughed and elbowed Dart in the ribs. "Hah, can't believe you didn't pick up on that, Dartboard." Dart shrugged in response.

Sora stared at the world disappearing behind him in disbelief, remembering how horrifying it was seeing the world he was born and raised on get ripped apart at the seams while he fought for his life. He could only imagine there being other people down there, perhaps a child, even younger and even more scared than he was hiding under his bed, or perhaps in a closet or cupboard, hoping, praying that his already taken mother and father would come to rescue him just before the swirling vortex… Sora shook his head and turned back from the window and asked, "Why is everyone here acting so calm and cheerful when the world behind us is being torn apart?"

Jan's forced smile disappeared from her lips and she sighed. A spluttering noise came from the gummi ship's engines and Dart quickly pulled a deck of cards from his waist pouch and said, "Because as I'm sure your two friends," He motioned at Goofy and Donald, "have told you, gummi ships only work when its inhabitants are all happy. What happened was a tragedy, but it's a tragedy that can be reversed with enough work. It's best not to think about and instead it's a better idea to focus on what needs to be done to fix it." He shuffled the deck and sat opposite Sora on the floor and placed the deck in front of him. "Now, do you fancy a game?"

A smile spread across the boy's lips and he got off of the couch to sit on the floor and he said, "That'd be nice." Dart let out a loud cheer and asked, "Anyone else?" The others gave positive responses and joined them on the floor.

* * *

Soon after Kevin and Vice were healed at the hospital, the two exchanged apologies and began to get started on a plan to attack and finish of Venxik once and for all and put a huge wrench in Superior's master plan. However, to make the plan come to fruition, Kevin would need to get stronger, which he had been working hard at doing, but he also needed a stronger weapon, or at least for Vortex to become stronger. At this point, they were running out of options and there was no doubt that the time portal Gabrielle had up for them to escape through was getting ready to collapse. They had, perhaps a week at most, if they were impossibly lucky, to get through it. Kevin's and his companions' stance on staying to assist Laharl and his allies was unwavering and trying to subdue them failed horribly, so all he had left to do was go with their plan. But that did nothing to ease the time limit placed on them. However, an hour after their brainstorming began, a plan dawned on him.

"There is a place that is easy to get to via the Netherworld. It is a place that is infinitely changing and exists within an item. Going inside it and defeating it's tens of thousands of denizens will turn whatever item that is entered into something much greater than it once was. For example: If you were to enter the world of an apple and defeat it's denizens and progress through the hundred levels of its world, it would become some absurdly healthy superfruit that's capable of curing any disease and bringing a man on the verge of death to full health with just one bite."

"Are you saying we could do the same with Vortex and turn it into a weapon capable of defeating Venxik?" Kevin asked.

"Yes, but there's a few catches. When we're in Vortex's world, you won't be able to wield it. That's a given."

"That's fine, I have Frost and if that doesn't work, I can use those fist weapons Raynx left for me."

"Good. Second, when Vortex is complete, it will become a weapon far too powerful for you to wield properly. In fact, just holding it may very well drain you of your strength."

Kevin looked shocked at the news. He shook his head and asked, "So in other words, attacking Venxik will wind up being a suicide mission even if I do have this superweapon?"

Vice looked down at the table they were seated at, seeing his scarred features reflecting off of the diligently polished cherry wood. "Yes. But in this case, you will at least be able to severely weaken him, or even kill him. However, there is a bright side to this. Destroying the inhabitants of this item and sparing a few unique individuals will also make you far stronger than you are currently and may even make it so that you can wield the upgraded Vortex efficiently enough to not just drop out of the air like a rock. And on top of that, there is a single individual that resides in the Item World that will only show his face after we have killed each denizen and have "cleared" every single floor: the Item God. He will wield a weapon that you will have a chance to steal that is a moderate upgrade from your current Vortex and may even be a Keyblade never before seen by any living being."

"Sounds like a fair trade. Should we take the others?" Kevin asked. "It sounds like it'd be dangerous if it were just you and me."

"No, they have their own issues. Invaders from Earth have been showing up in the Netherworld, attacking random demon villages in a pre-emptive strike against the Overlord, believing he's planning on destroying Earth. He'll need their help to hold them off."

"Ah. So when do we go?"

"Right now if it works."

The two got up and began making their way to the Red Skull, a demon with the body of a bespectacled young boy wearing a red cloak and hood and after a short exchange, made their way to Vortex' Item World.

* * *

_Okay so this is it._ Kevin thought, standing at the hundredth floor of the Item World. There he stood with Vice on his right side and John on his left. His climb through the Item World was truly brutal and intense. He went from floor one of his weapon and travelled all the way up to where he was, the final floor, where the most powerful being in Vortex resided, the Item God. Along the way, he fought countless residents of the world and befriended those that with his help, promised to make Vortex as powerful as they could to aid in his fight against Venxik.

The Item God in question was a tall, translucent man of shadows. Big, intimidating and powerful. He held a large Keyblade in his right hand that just like Vortex, had a lightning bolt design, but unlike the thin and frail looking Keyblade, this other weapon was big and looked like it should be held with two hands, rather than one. It was double edged. The blade itself was separated into three different parts, the center part being a long shaft of yellowed metal decorated with criss-crossing grey-blue wires running along its length. The crossguard, much like Vortex's was a dark grey cloud that encircled the dark blue metallic handle and from the pommel hung a keychain that sported a nearly black nimbus cloud that would normally signify a large incoming storm.

The powerful being stared at him and only him, as if judging him, seeing if he was worthy of leaving this world alive with the weapon in his hands and ownership of the weapon they currently stood in. He finally closed his eyes and turned his back on the trio and began to walk away. Suddenly, demons appeared on the flat battlefield around them, and began advancing as if they were one single entity, much as the denizens of the previous ninety-nine floors had done.

"Okay so I get right flank, John gets middle and Vice get's left flank, right?" Kevin asked, holding Frost tightly in his hands. Vice shook his head and replied, "There's no time for that. He's getting away! Kevin do you still have that glove I gave you?" Kevin nodded and Vice continued, "Okay. John I'm sorry to tell you this, but you're going to have to hold these guys off while we go deal with the Item God. Can you handle it?"

John saluted without hesitation and said "Of course I can! I am just as capable a fighter as the two of you, even if I do it with my bare hands!"

Vice grinned and shouted, "That's what I like to hear! Okay Kevin, ready to clear the way?"

"Yeah." Kevin stood in front of John and Vice stood behind him. The Nobody inhaled deeply and raised his hands into the air, a furious wind howled across the battlefield, drowning out the jeering calls of the advancing demons and small sparks of electricity trailed up and down his body. The wind began to fall under his control and formed a large tornado in the back ranks of the demons, picking up trees and other objects not firmly tied or low to the ground, including the largest of the demons in the back row. Once the tornado was complete, Kevin dropped his arms, crouched in a sprinting position and charged forward with his wings spread wide open. Whatever demons in this path weren't picked up by his tornado were blasted into the sky by the protective barrier of wind he cloaked himself with and whatever demons managed to avoid that were immediately sliced or horribly burned by his crackling wings.

He stepped onto the back of a crouched over demon that hoped to avoid being caught up in the slaughter and vaulted off it's back and into the eye of the storm, shouting something that was completely overwhelmed by the howling winds that he summoned. He flew straight into the tornado and used the wild, ferocious winds to propel him towards the escaping Item God.

He readied Frost as he began his descent towards the Item God that had now turned to face him. His rapidly approaching body now stood ready, bracing for impact and Kevin could faintly see a smile that showed recognition and an urge to fight this interesting new foe. The humanoid missile collided with the outstretched Keyblade with such force that the Item God, much to his surprise, was pushed back and almost knocked off balance. He righted himself as Kevin bounced off the large, intimidating Keyblade, a thief's glove worn on his right hand and the Item God's grin grew wider until it was a full-blown smile. This being without a heart was definitely worthy of facing him in combat.

"Hello there, Mr. Item God. I'm glad to finally have made your acquaintance. Your people have really taught me a lot and all that there is left is for me to defeat you and take what is rightfully mine." Kevin said, reflecting the god's smile.

He rushed forward and swung Frost at the god's hand that held on to the large Keyblade and was immediately parried by Caineghis and Vice appeared between him and the god, out of nowhere.

"You aren't beating this guy alone Kevin. Stick to the plan and everything will work itself out."

The howling winds had subsided after Kevin ran off and Vice disappeared, leaving a bloody swathe of corpses in their wake, and leaving the rest of the demons, those that hadn't been slaughtered or turned tail and ran, to him. John readjusted his goggles and goaded the demons into rushing him. And just as he was hoping, they surrounded him from all sides.

Quickly, he spun around in a complete circle, jabbing each demon in the chest, stunning them for a moment and jumped high into the air. He held both of his hands out in front of him and a circle decorated with runes appeared around his outstretched hands and an identical circle appeared at the feet of his dazed targets. He began charging energy and let loose a wide beam of white light that connected the two runed circles and devastated the demons that stood in it's line of fire and a good few that stood outside it. He landed back where he jumped up from and made short work of those that remained. Those that had survived that final assault quickly fled just as the demons that weren't arrogant enough to stay after a tornado was brought down in their ranks and devastated them.

The ground under him shook and the head of a particularly large demon rose from the hole it had created, the head itself twice the size of John. Soon the rest of it's body followed suit and out from it's body seemingly erupted the flames of Hell itself. It's breath reeked of death and brimstone and while it's charred and black body was crouched over and beastlike, it still had a strongly humanoid shape. John stepped back, surprised and scared by the behemothic demon but quickly regained his composure and lunged forward to begin the assault.

Back on the top of the hill that Kevin, Vice, and the Item God fought on, the god fought with such strength and ferocity that the shockwaves that his swings produced were so powerful that they were able to knock Kevin away from the Keyblade. With a mix of these powerful bursts of energy and the swiftness of the man wielding the weapon, the Nobody found himself unable to close the gap and steal the weapon from its enraged owner without risking life or limb.

To be fair, the Item God had every right to be mad. He was being forced to fight an inferior swordsman that was easily being overwhelmed by the simple swinging of his weapon while dodging an overly insistent magic knight that insisted on flying in and attempting to steal his weapon or attacking him from behind to help the other overwhelm him in the hopes that it'd make conquering the Item World, _his_ world any easier. The knight put on an impressive display with the tornado, but in the end, he was nothing more than an insect that could make a strong breeze blow. Sure he was an oddity amongst demons, a knight that practiced magic and wielded a Keyblade, but an insect nonetheless.

Vice staggered back, with one of the very few, but very brief openings the Item God left in his wild assault, he realized how outclassed he and Kevin were. That weapon he wielded made him far too powerful for them to fight as equals and he was quickly getting tired and ready to collapse from exhaustion. He sluggishly brought Caineghis back up to begin parrying the next barrage of attacks and lost his footing on the ground and realized he was on the edge of a cliff. Below it was nothing but an infinite void, if he stumbled now he would probably be caught in a fall that would last for all eternity.

Judging by the Item God's expression, he knew exactly that was going to happen and shoved him over the edge. But that motion was the exact opening Kevin needed. He rushed in, snatched the massive Keyblade from the Item God, dismissed it and flew down after Vice.

He caught the man as he was falling and quickly flew upwards to the base of the cliff and deposited Vice there so he could rest. He turned to fly upwards to engage the Item God in combat, but the demon didn't want to wait to exact his revenge on the thief and his allies and leapt from the hundred foot high cliff and landed behind the two, leaving a small crater where he stood.

The Item God's once almost civil demeanor and posture were lost to the rage that had consumed him as a result of his weapon being stolen from him in a moment of weakness. Kevin summoned Frost once again and stood ready for the demon's assault. The demon rushed him and threw a punch that he barely had time to block with the Keyblade and he staggered back, almost tripping over Vice. Even though the Item God had lost his weapon, he was still far more powerful than Kevin could have expected, and fighting this close to Vice while he was so tired was a terrible idea.

Kevin clenched his teeth. He was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. He couldn't possibly push the Item God back, not at this range and not without using a big spell that would drain him of what little energy he had left. Not hurting Vice with such an attack would be a big issue too.

He stumbled backwards as Vice suddenly got up from behind him and the Nobody fell on his rear where the tired man had been lying just moments before. He looked around widly, not seeing him anywhere and he looked up to see the Item God with an expression of absolute horror on his face as he looked down to see a blazing sword piercing his chest from behind him. Somehow Vice had gotten up and behind him, completely undetected. The Item God collapsed to the floor, dead and Vice appeared suddenly standing right behind where the demon was standing, holding the sword in his hands with a grim look on his face.

"That invisibility armour has saved my life once again. I guess I have one thing to thank that alternate universes Xemnas for. Now then Kevin, let's get up and get out of here so we don't waste any time." Vice said, brushing some rubble from his clothing, being extra delicate with his body armour.

Kevin nodded and stood up; using Vice's outstretched hand as support as John walked from the corpse of his massive opponent to join them as they left the Item World.

* * *

Back at the castle, a few hours after the human invasion had died down once more and everyone had gone off to bed, with Xunahs and Lochit staying up to keep watch for any invaders during the night, Kevin slipped off to the front gates of Laharl's castle and conjured a Corridor of Darkness and stepped through it, arriving on the front lawn of his house three years in the past. The house looked the same as it did in the future, albeit a bit more clean looking. After his father's and sister's deaths, cleaning the outside of the house just never seemed that important to either Kevin or his mom.

Kevin looked up to the windows on the second floor of the house, facing out towards the street behind him and saw that his bedroom light was on and his curtains drawn while his sister's room had no light on and it looked empty. There weren't even curtains hung up there! He looked up at the balcony, where the black silhouette of his father stood, smoking while gazing upwards at the starry night sky and slowly altered the air currents to levitate himself up to the window.

Just as he got to eye level with the window, there was a sudden and bright flash of light surrounding him and the light from the window was completely blotted out. He dropped to the ground and stepped back from the house, backing up against the tree he would sit and read books under during the summer. There was a second flash and a white ball of light floated in the suddenly darkened area surrounding him. His father was no longer staring at the sky and was now focusing on him, a light glow illuminating his body and showing his angered face.

The man waved his hand and dozens more balls of light formed in the air and began to glow brighter still.

"You there, magic kid! Tell me what you're doing snooping around my house unless you want to die!" Kevin cringed. That man was definitely his father; he had heard that same angry tone of voice many times before.

Kevin cautiously stepped out from under the tree and the glowing lights quickly moved above his head, illuminating him and humming threateningly. He raised his hands in surrender, not taking his eyes off his father and said, "I am Kevin; your son from three years in the future. I know it's stupid and hard to believe, but if you just give me a minute..." He was cut off by one of the luminescent orbs firing a beam of light at the ground next to him, burning the grass and briefly making his side feel like it was dangerously close to a bonfire.

"I'd be willing to believe that after everything I've been through, but I am not convinced. Unlike you, my son has a heart and doesn't reek of demonic magic. So you had better start talking, "Kevin". That is, before I decide to vaporise you for getting too close to my wife and son."

_Wife and son? What about my sister?_ Kevin thought to himself. He took a deep breath and recounted the last year of his life, about the stories of the friends he'd made, the friends he'd lost and the adventures he had. He concluded with the curse that gave him his current form and said, "I'll come over here and _hopefully_ not get killed by you so I can finish with my journey and regain my heart and save the worlds from whatever plot Superior is cooking up."

The lights disappeared and a sudden strong burst of wind picked Kevin up and gently placed him on the balcony where he was embraced in a tight hug. "You had me at 'Ryan', Kevin. To think that brat got involved in your life too."

Kevin slipped out from the hug and eyed his father warily. "What do you mean by that?" He asked. His father sighed and said, "I wasn't born here on Destiny Islands. In fact, I didn't move here until twenty-odd years ago after a tragic incident involving my friends that left me needing to kill them as an act of mercy. They were two lovers that got caught up in the dark side of magic and wound up corrupting their entire town, turning their neighbours into abominations. Only they and their son were left physically intact by the magic. As for their minds and hearts, they were long gone. Me and my brother Simon left his wife Silviya, a wonderful young woman that he had married weeks beforehand at his house so she could call the authorities in case we didn't come back. After carving a bloody swathe through the monsters that used to be human beings, we found the parents of Ryan, trying to summon something horrible into our world and we stopped them before they could finish. Just as we were back in our school days, my powers over wind and rain mixed with Simon's ability to cloak himself in the shadows and lash out with deadly poisons that spawned from his veins to coat his weapons, we were an unstoppable duo. We, however did not account for one little problem."

"Ryan, who was surprisingly smart for a five year old; had tried to stop us with immensely powerful spells, but we managed to escape unharmed. We returned a couple of hours later to Simon's house where we explained what happened to our friends and spent the remainder of the night in silence. A few days later, another friend of ours, James, a powerful time mage pulled some strings with his powers to assemble a funeral that would've normally taken weeks to prepare in a couple of hours and we held a funeral for our lost friends. Five years later, I met a beautiful woman that bent the electricity in the air to her will, after finding out we had a lot in common and married a year later, we had you. A few months later, Simon and Silviya gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Shaun and three weeks after his birth, Ryan resurfaced after so long and slaughtered them mercilessly and took their son to raise as a pawn. We couldn't track either one of them and me with your mother and James all fled Radiant Garden to split up and lose Ryan's trail."

"James fled to a rural world where much like Radiant Garden, magic was highly common amongst its inhabitants. Your mother fled to a world perpetually bathed in sunset and was quickly found and killed by Ryan, and I, with you fled here where I met your stepmother, fell in love again, and raised you. Because nobody here can do so much as cause a spark with their minds, I didn't bother teaching you about your magical heritage because you'd be seen as a freak, and would be shunned by your peers."

"Wait a second... Shaun. Oh my God, are you saying he's my cousin?" Kevin asked. He quickly added "Not that your story wasn't interesting or anything, actually it told me a lot, but..."

His father's expression brightened. "Shaun? You've seen him? Is he okay?" Kevin nodded and said, "Yeah he is. He's been through hell and back, but I found him almost a year ago and became his friend, which is funny considering he was a Heartless at the time. Right now, he's back in the Netherworld, probably wondering where the hell I went."

"Wait, a Heartless? Did Ryan's creatures get to him too?"

"Yeah, shortly after they got to me. Ryan has been a thorn in all of our sides after you died—oops." Kevin looked at his father with wide eyes that resembled a deer staring into the headlights of an incoming vehicle.

"I... died? When did that happen?"

Kevin looked around. There was no getting out of this. "In a few days if I remember correctly. You'll hang yourself because you can't protect me or my sister." His father raised an eyebrow at him and spun around immediately, facing the lawn. On the lawn, Ryan stood in the darkness. Kevin's dad pushed the Nobody against the wall and enclosed him in a barrier that he couldn't break through but could clearly see and hear everything.

"So Ryan, you've come yourself this time, without assassins. What made you decide to come out here on your own?" Kevin's dad asked.

"To kill you. Are you sure you don't want your impressionable thirteen year old son to hear your screams as I tear the life from your body as you and your pathetic brother did to my parents, Bill?"

Bill grimaced at the thought and said, "He won't hear or see a thing. I've put a barrier around this lawn that prevents anything from getting out of it, including sound and light."

"Aw, that's boring." He raised a hand and from that hand, tendrils of shadows shot out and stabbed Bill through the torso, colliding with the barrier behind him, causing a loud, metallic screech. He slowly retracted the tendrils and wound them around the man's throat, casting a healing spell on him to close the wounds in his stomach. Kevin got back onto his feet and pounded against the smaller barrier that kept him locked up, screaming to be let out. If he could just save his father, and kill Ryan here and now, again, so many issues in his life would have been resolved and he would never have to deal with family and friends dying on him.

His father disappeared and Ryan floated up to the balcony, saying quietly, "If you can still hear me Bill, I'm going to let you in on a little secret that will help you realize the hell your son will be put through starting tonight. I am going to kill you by hanging you as you can see and feel right now. Then after that, I am going to make you invisible to your son and wife for a few days and magically preserve your body until the illusion fades off, making it seem like you hung yourself on that day. Your son will discover your dead body hanging from your bedroom ceiling and I will implant memories in his head that his nonexistent sister, a girl I based off of a member of Organization XIII. Her death will be the final nail in your literal and metaphorical coffin and push you over the edge. Nobody else will know who this girl is and will think your son is insane, except for one girl and one boy, both of whom I have chosen to monitor your son's movements and help mould him into a tool that I can use. You remember that demon my parents tried to summon? He found a host, and that host is your son."

Ryan smiled contentedly as the barrier around the house and hiding Kevin faded from existence. Kevin pressed himself further back against the wall, deciding it probably was best not to face Ryan alone.

"Andrea, Grehy, get out here now." Ryan hissed. Out of nowhere, a short girl that was undoubtedly Andrea and a tall, athletic boy that was obviously Grehy, both from Kevin's lives, appeared at Ryan's side. They kneeled before him and Ryan said, "You may return to attention." They did so and he continued. "I have assigned you two to a special mission. You will both play vital roles in the life of this boy Kevin." Ryan flashed them both a photo of Kevin. "You Andrea, will be his friend and voice of reason. You will also help nurture and grow the Heartless that has rooted itself in his heart and you, Grehy, will be his enemy. You will loathe and despise him and make him feel the darkness that comes with hating another person. I chose both of you because you are both his age and will make things hassle-free. Any questions?"

"No sir!" Andrea and Grehy saluted and he grinned. "That's good to hear. You will begin tomorrow as students at Destiny Island Junior High. Here are your schedules and your books can be found in your houses that have been... vacated for you as temporary headquarters.

Kevin sat there for what felt like an eternity after the three dispersed. He was frozen in place. He didn't know what to do, what to say. Ryan was a dangerous person, far more deadly than he would've thought possible. However, there was a thought that flowed through his mind constantly. _Ryan died a while ago, for real and that was in the past by this timeline's point of view, so who is that man?_

The Nobody remained there, on that balcony where he spent so many nights sleeping, gazing at the starry night sky in his youth, trying to figure out the puzzle, but no answers came to him. It wasn't until the sun started to rise and his mother's alarm clock started blasting loud and obnoxious static that Kevin realized what time it was. He got up, feeling sore and watched as the dew fell from his body. He summoned a portal and walked through it to go back to his room in the Overlord's Castle, hoping nobody would notice his absence.

* * *

Xunahs: Just when you think the action has finally rolled on its side to die, we come back, more explosive than ever!

Lochit: Yeah! We really exceeded the budget on this chapter!

Xunahs: Good thing this is a fanfiction, right?

Xunahs and Lochit: Hahaha!

Tahlia: Right. Well, chapter twenty-two: The Invasion of the Netherworld Part One is coming up, so please stay tuned to read it!

Tom: That's righ—Wait a second. Isn't this part one?

Tahlia: It was supposed to be part one, but for the sake of developing the SUPER WEAPON THAT WILL PUT AN END TO OUR WOES and introducing a big plot development, this chapter had to happen.

Tom: And how did you know all of that?

Tahlia: I have my sources.


End file.
